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Friday, March 30, 2007

Judging a Book by Its Cover-

The release this week of the new dust jacket art for the seventh, and last, Harry Potter book illustrates, in a dramatic fashion, how the publishers view their different markets.

The English edition aimed at kids is dramatic and action-filled-



On the other hand, the English edition aimed at adults could be a Cold War spy thriller-



Meanwhile, the American edition seems to try to cut right down the middle and be a bit of both, but leaning heavily towards the kid's market-



It seems obvious that Bloomsbury, the English publisher, takes its' adult audience a bit more seriously than Scholastic, the American publisher. That's not a new story- the very first title in the series, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" had its' title changed by Scholastic to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", because
they thought nobody in America would buy a book with the word "Philosopher" in it.

I think I like the American cover best though. In the end, the English kid's cover is too silly, and the Engish adult cover is too chilly- so the American cover must be "just right"...

10 comments:

Mike said...

Is it Harry Potter or Goldilocks and the 3 Bears?

Forrest Proper said...

Mike- It's Harry Potter; 'Goldilocks Does the Three Bears' is one of those films the cable company won't show in Utah.

Cissy Strutt said...

There is a counterfeit Harry Potter book out of China called 'Harry Potter and the Leopard Walk-Up-To-Dragon' ? Aparently it's basically a verbatim translation of The Hobbit with the names changed to Harry Potter character names.

Forrest Proper said...

Cissy- "Crouching Harry, Flying Hobbit" would make a great Martial Arts movie...

Catalyst said...

Harry Potter is the Anti-Christ.

And he's coming soon...to...





American Idol!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I think the truth behind the name change of 'HP & The Sorcerer's Stone' was that the publisher thought Americans might not understand the word 'Philosopher'.

Present company excepted of course.

Forrest Proper said...

Catalyst- Dick Cheney's gonna be on American Idol? Wow...

Reverend- Now, now, now... Americans certainly know what a "Philosopher" is. It's like a Communist, right?

A terrorist?

Anonymous said...

I'm hangin' out for 'Harry Potter and the Communist Dissertation'. I hear it's got a guest appearance by Dick Cheney as a Dementor. Or as demented - one of those.

Joey Polanski said...

An just who is THIS covr aimd at?

Forrest Proper said...

Reverend- I'll be looking for my "Dicky Dementor" action figure at Wal*Mart any day now!

Joey- Terrorists.