Judging books by their covers,
July 2003.

Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix /
...Goblet of Fire /
...Prisoner of Azkaban /
...Chamber of Secrets /
...Sorcerer’s Stone
J. K. Rowling

All:
Cover art: Mary GrandPré
Cover design: Mary GrandPré
   and David Saylor
Scholastic Press

I have a complicated set of feelings about brands in publishing. After several attempts to define it concisely, I’ve decided that I can’t, and maybe it will have to wait for a separate essay. In the meantime, I can safely say that I’m completely in favor of consistent design among books in a series. With the very recent publication of the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, it’s a welcome opportunity not only to take a look at the new release but also its predecessors.

Every review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that I’ve come across has mentioned Harry’s entry into puberty and with it the realization that not everything can be separated so easily into good and evil. The entire series, on one level, is about the process of growing up.

The book covers, too, have undergone their own maturation. Not that I think any of them is bad — it’s just that the latest entry is, to my eyes, easily the best of the five. The first, Sorcerer’s Stone, was fine, but it tried to do too much. The second, Chamber of Secrets, was a step forward. It was simpler, yet it had more depth, thanks to an interesting point of view and subtle texture. Prisoner of Azkaban, the third, is a little bit of a step backward, rougher around the edges than the previous two. The series regains momentum with Goblet of Fire, which has a fair amount going on, like Sorcerer’s Stone, but seems to know how to layer its details much better. Plus, it’s the most successful character illustration thus far: the lines are clean and refined, and the faces have wonderfully subtle shading to them.

But the latest is the best yet. It’s a more sophisticated illustration than any of the others — smoother and richer. In terms of character illustration, it’s a slight improvement on the last; in terms of tone and point of view, I think it’s a great leap forward. All of the previous illustrations evoked a mood that was adventurous with a hint of menace. In a welcome respite from the explosions of color on the covers of the previous novels, she turns here to a duotone palette, with mesmerizing results: not only is it all menace now, the menace is only hinted at, which greatly heightens the drama. The fish-eye lens also adds a wonderful sense that something is closing in. Even the wind seems real. For the first time, I actually feel that I’m in the scene with Harry. Best of all, for the first time the non–“Harry Potter” part of the title doesn’t look tacked-on at all.

Judgment: Baby’s all grows up! Well, the covers, anyway.