New Harry Potter Cover Art Released

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Today, Scholastic released the front and back covers of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling's seventh, and final, Harry Potter book, which goes on sale in stores at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 21. The cover art was created by Mary GrandPre, the illustrator of all six previous U.S. editions of the Harry Potter books.

David Saylor, Scholastic's vice president and creative director, described the front cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as featuring "a dramatic sky of oranges and golds. It depicts 17-year-old Harry with arm outstretched, reaching upward. The structures around Harry show evident destruction and in the shadows behind him, we see outlines of other people."

The cover is designed as a wrap-around, and, Saylor noted, "On the back cover spidery hands are outstretched towards Harry. Only when the book is opened does one see a powerful image of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his glowing red eyes peering out from his hood."