“Harry Potter” books to get new covers by Kazu Kibuishi

Harry Potter gets a new look in September, as the U.S. trade paperback editions will get new covers by Kazu Kibuishi, known for his comics including “Daisy Kutter” and “Amulet.”

Today, Scholastic revealed the new cover for “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first of seven new covers that will appear starting in Sept. 2013 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of the first Harry Potter book.

Here’s how Scholastic describes the covers:

Each of the seven new covers will depict a distinctive and memorable moment from the respective book.  The collection, which will also be released in September as a boxed set, will offer new readers just reaching the age to begin the series a glimpse of J.K. Rowling’s magical world and the epic story they are about to enter. 

“The Harry Potter covers by Mary GrandPré are so fantastic and iconic,” said Kibuishi in a news release.  “When I was asked to submit samples, I initially hesitated because I didn’t want to see them reinterpreted!  However, I felt that if I were to handle the project, I could bring something to it that many other designers and illustrators probably couldn’t, and that was that I was also a writer of my own series of middle grade fiction. As an author myself, I tried to answer the question, ‘If I were the author of the books – and they were like my own children – how would I want them to be seen years from now?’ When illustrating the covers, I tried to think of classic perennial paperback editions of famous novels and how those illustrations tend to feel.  In a way, the project became a tribute to both Harry Potter and the literary classics.”