J.K. Rowling is the author of the record-breaking, multi-award-winning Harry Potter novels. Loved by fans around the world, the series has sold over 450 million copies, been translated into 78 languages, and made into 8 blockbuster films. She has written three companion volumes in aid of charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (in aid of Comic Relief); and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (in aid of Lumos). She is writing a film script inspired by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She has received many awards and honours, including an OBE for services to children's literature, France's Légion d'Honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

This gift edition hardback, presented in a beautiful foiled cloth slipcase decorated with brand new line art by Jonny Duddle, is the perfect introduction to Harry Potter.

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

I've yet to meet a ten-year-old who hasn't been entranced by its witty, complex plot and the character of the eponymous Harry

Spellbinding, enchanting, bewitching stuff

Teachers say a chapter can silence the most rowdy of classes

One of the greatest literary adventures of modern times

The Harry Potter stories will join that small group of children's books which are read and reread into adulthood