The latest exciting new addition to Harry Potter At Home, the collection of free initiatives designed to help bring the magic of Harry Potter to children, parents and carers in lockdown, was announced today, May 5, 2020.
Some of the best-loved faces from global entertainment, music and sport have lent their voices to the story they love by recording videos of themselves reading the timeless first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone/Sorcerer’s Stone. Seven readers from the stellar line-up were announced by Wizarding World and J.K. Rowling on Twitter today.
Daniel Radcliffe, Stephen Fry, David Beckham, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, Noma Dumezweni, and Eddie Redmayne are amongst the cast of narrators, with more surprises and special appearances from across the Wizarding World and beyond to come. Each will be reading different sections of this iconic book, with its themes of family, friendship, courage and overcoming adversity, to families around the world.
Kicking off the series of video readings will be a face that is instantly synonymous with Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe, will read Chapter One: ‘The Boy Who Lived’.
All seventeen chapters of the book will be released between now and the middle of the summer, starting today with Chapter One on May 5th at 2.15pm BST. Videos will be posted weekly on www.harrypotterathome.com, with an audio-only version available for all for free on Spotify for children, parents and carers worldwide to have fun and enjoy listening to these very special, one-off recordings.
The Harry Potter At Home project is an initiative developed at short notice by Wizarding World Digital and J.K. Rowling’s agents The Blair Partnership, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic with the help of Wizarding World partners including Warner Bros. Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Pottermore Publishing. The initiative already includes an open licence to teachers allowing them to post recordings of themselves reading the Harry Potter stories onto educational platforms and networks; a dedicated hub of information and activities at www.harrypotterathome.com; and Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone available to stream for free via Audible Stories and borrowed more widely via online library services all over the world.
With over 500 million books sold, most households may well have access to a copy of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone already and can read along too. It is hoped that this new slate of readings bring further comfort, entertainment and magic to children, families and carers confined to home everywhere.
