Explore the Magic of Harry Potter

Nearly a decade after the publication of the last volume of J.K. Rowling’s seven-book Harry Potter series, and long since the cast members of the film adaptations have grown into adults, Pottermania is as rampant as ever. In November, we’ll return to the wizarding world with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the film adaptation of a quasi-Potter prequel penned by Rowling herself. Meanwhile, the stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which catches up with The Boy Who Lived 19 years after the defeat of Voldemort, opens in London in July—and for those of us outside of the U.K., the official script book for the show is available for pre-order now. Best of all, B&N is helping fans celebrate the countdown to the release of that book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II, by holding a series of Potter-themed events at stores nationwide, culminating in a release party on July 31.
Whether you’re a wand-carrying Potterphile or a newcomer searching for your acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we’ve got some suggestions for books and movies that will whisk you away to a world far more magical than our own…

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: The Illustrated Edition
Grab your wands and hold on to your cloaks, because Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: The Illustrated Edition is absolutely stunning. Whether you’re a newcomer to the series, are introducing it to your children, or like us, are filled with jealousy at the thought of any reader who gets to experience Harry Potter for the first time, you’re in luck: these lavish, imaginative illustrations provide a way to see Harry and his world through new eyes. Artist Jim Kay has adorned nearly every page of this oversized, gift-worthy tome with magical images seemingly lifted straight from the mind of J.K. Rowling—over 100 of them!

The Hogwarts Library, by J.K. Rowling
The Hermiones among us will rejoice over The Hogwarts Library, a boxed set of Rowling’s supplemental works: Quidditch Through the Ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The latter, of course, shares the title with this November’s hotly anticipated, Rowling-penned film starring Eddie Redmayne and directed by David Yates, who helmed the final four entries in the Potter series. Though the story for the movie is brand new, it never hurts to brush up on the taxonomy of sharp-teethed beasties, and the in-universe textbook written by Newt Scamander is the best way to do it.

Harry Potter: The Coloring Book #1
Yer a wizard, Harry, a wizard of the crayon. Always had bigger aesthetic ambitions for the Sorting Hat? Ready to give Buckbeak a new look? Have you always longed to lovingly detail Dobby’s sock? Here’s the book for any diehard Potterhead. Hours of penciling in a Quidditch scene might even distract you from their failure to secure opening night tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Harry Potter Magical Creatures Coloring Book
If you want to focus your coloring obsession on fur, scales, feathers, fangs,and talons, this coloring book specializes in elaborate, detailed images of the creatures that inhabit Harry’s world, from house elves, to merfolk, to, naturally, dragons—lots of ’em.

Special Edition Potter Box Set
To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, publisher Scholastic commissioned a set of beautiful new paperback covers designed by Kazu Kibuishi, author and illustrator of the Amulet graphic novel series. While there’s no replacing Mary GrandPré’s iconic imagery, Kibuishi’s take is fresh and fun. Even better, when the spines of all seven volumes are lined up, they create a landscape of Hogwarts. Magical, indeed!

Harry Potter Complete 8-Film Collection
Yes, we all know that the best way to envelop yourself in the world of J.K. Rowling is to read the books (and then read them again, and again, and again), but we also love seeing our favorite stories done well on film—and adaptations don’t come more lavish or beloved than the eight films taken from the Potter novels, which collectively earned more than $7 billion at the worldwide box office. You’ll adore watching Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint grow up along with their characters as you relive the wonder of the most magical film series ever made.