Running out of inspiration for that friend who could stand up to Hermione Granger? Here are the Books to give to Harry Potter fans this year. Beautiful editions, bibles of the universe or novels that resemble the adventures of the little wizard with glasses, here is the selection of the Journal du Geek editorial staff.
Harry Potter MinaLima Box Set: Books 1 to 3
By JK Rowling and MinaLima, published on October 24, 2024 by Gallimard Jeunesse – €110
If their names are not as famous as that of JK Rowling’s character, their work is not unknown to you. From Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima have strived to create the hundreds of accessories that will appear in front of the camera of Alphonso Cuaron and his successors. From the Daily Prophet to the Quibbler via the glasses worn by the zany Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter imagery owes a lot to the founders of the MinaLima studio.
In 2020, the two graphic designers unveil a new illustrated version of The Sorcerer’s School. Embellished with pop-ups and new illustrations, the object published by Schoolastic quickly established itself as one of the most beautiful editions ever offered. Priced at 35 euros, these works are beautiful collector’s items. In October 2024, the first three volumes were included in a box set. Note that the MinaLima collection will end with this third volume, other illustrators having to take over from volume 4.
Discover the Harry Potter MinaLima box set: Books 1 to 3
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
By JK Rowling and Jim Kay, published on October 22, 2015 by Gallimard Jeunesse – €39.90
Still in the illustrated editions section, Jim Kay is also a reference for Harry Potter worshipers. The British illustrator caught the eye of JK Rowling, she will personally choose him to create a new version of eight volumes of the saga. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first to have benefited from his deliciously nostalgic pencil line. For young and old readers, this edition is an opportunity to rediscover Rowling’s imagination with pages teeming with details.
If the aesthetics of Chris Columbus’ films have largely left their mark, we appreciate rediscovering Hogwarts as it was imagined by the author. Note that, here too, the entire saga will not benefit from his work. The first four volumes were illustrated by him before he shared this task with Neil Packer. Volumes 6 and 7 should see the light of day soon, Bloomsbury had announced that the saga would continue in 2022 without specifying who would take up the torch.
Discover Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Fantastic Beasts: The Great Book of Creatures
By Jody Revenson, published October 25, 2024 by Huginn and Muninn – €49.95
If we have to wait for the saga dedicated to Norbert Scamander for them to take all the spotlight in the cinema, fantastic animals are inherent to the Harry Potter universe. Wizarding World devotes a book to their creation on the big screen. From Hedwig to the mermaids of Black Lake and the adorable Pickett, The Great Book of Creatures focuses on telling how the creative teams of the two sagas hatched these animals. We discover, for example, that Botrucs must have been inspired by seahorses and tarsiers before it adopted the morphology of a bipedal stick insect.
With 220 pagesthe beautiful book is a bible of the fauna of the magical world. It is punctuated with numerous “concept art” as many as images taken from the footage offered at the cinema. Before the series arrives on Max, which promises to bring about a new aesthetic, it is a great opportunity to remember the meticulous work of the Warner Bros teams to give birth to one of the most significant sagas of the years 2000.
Discover Fantastic Beasts: The Great Book of Creatures
Harry Potter – Christmas at Hogwarts
By JK Rowling and Ziyi Gao, published on October 24, 2024 by Gallimard Jeunesse – €19.90
To introduce young readers to the rich universe of Harry Potter, between Christmas and New Year, there is nothing like an illustrated extract. In 2024, Gallimard returns to the universe with an album that smells of pine, pumpkin juice and butterbeer. Christmas at Hogwarts thus retraces the young wizard’s first December 24th at school. Under the pen of Ziyi Gao, chapter 12 of the first book comes to life to accompany the reading sessions of our dear little darlings.
Discover Harry Potter – Christmas at Hogwarts
Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn
By AF Steadman, published on May 4, 2022 by Hachette Romans – €17.90
In 2022, AF Steadman published his first novel and met with great success among young readers. Quickly, the British author was seen as the worthy heir of JK Rowling. Skandar and the Unicorn shares a lot of similarities with the adventures of Harry Potter. If the little wizard with glasses is missing from your lives, Skandar could well become your new darling, or those of your fantasy-loving loved ones.
As its name suggests, Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn talk about… unicorns. But not the kind you imagine in fairy tales. In the world depicted by Annabel Steadman, the creatures are evil beingsand only a select few have the chance to tame them. Young Skandar Smith dreams of riding one. A banal and ordinary teenager at first glance, he will quickly realize that he is the bearer of a destiny that he did not imagine.
Discover Skandar and the Flight of the Unicorn
The Halo of Shadows – Cycle 1
By Viviane & Céline de Clairval, published by Pyrélion – €23.90
A school of magic, an extraordinary destiny for a seemingly ordinary young boy, The Halo of Shadows does not hide its inspirations. Under the pen of authors Viviane & Céline de Clairval, the codes of the genre are nevertheless reinvented to adapt to an older audience. Here, it is not a question of young Luthen learning white magic but of mastering sorcery forbidden by the Crown within a dismal academy populated by characters who are just as dismal.
After escaping certain death, young Luthen joins a sordid magic school where he will have to face his dark side. While he seems to embody hope for the kingdoms of Edenfall, he begins to convince himself that he could, on the contrary, spell their doom.
Discover The Halo of Shadows
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