New Enhanced Editions of Harry Potter Series Now Available on iBooks

In a press release from Apple:

Apple today announced that enhanced editions of all seven books in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are now available exclusively on the iBooks Store for readers around the world to enjoy on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac. Customers can download individual books featuring full original text, interactive animations and elaborate artwork bringing these beloved stories to life in a unique way. Harry Potter fans will also find annotations throughout their literary journey, written by the author herself.

Each book costs US$9.99 and they are available in 32 countries today. French, German and Spanish versions are also available for pre-order and will be released on November 9 in 18 additional countries.

“I’m thrilled to see the Harry Potter books so beautifully realised on iBooks for the digital world; the artwork and animations in these enhanced editions bring the stories alive in a delightful new way,” said J.K. Rowling.

I had a quick look through the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and there are quite a few illustrations. They all look terrific and the animation really does bring it to life (they’re reminiscent of the moving images of the Daily Prophet, or perhaps more appropriately, Live Photos from the iPhone 6s). But that’s about it, the rest of the book is virtually identical to a standard ePub.

The candles in this image hovered up and down, whilst the Snitch fluttered around on the page.