Thoughts on the MinaLima Editions of the First Two Harry Potter Books

And finally, I’m discussing the last books I read last year — the MinaLima illustrated editions of the first and second Harry Potter books.

The Harry Potter series is catnip for me. If a new edition is published, I’ll most likely get it, so yea, I’m looking forward to the upcoming Jim Dale illustrated version of the fifth book, which I think is coming out this year in October, and am hoping MinaLima will do illustrated versions of all the books and that a third one is forthcoming.

Since the Harry Potter books are so popular and I’ve discussed the story several times on here, this won’t be a typical review because I won’t discuss the story — plot, characters, and all that. Instead, I’ll just focus on the illustrations and structure of the physical book and how those things affected my reading experience.

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My thoughts

The short of it — I LOVE the MinaLima editions of the Harry Potter series. They are exactly what I expect when I see “illustrated edition” tagged to a title. The illustrations are bright, colorful, quirky, and interactive, and I think they fit the playful tone of the story, especially for the first books.

The books themselves are designed to look like classic tomes but with a playful flair. I was hoping to preserve the mint condition of my copies, but handling them too much caused some wear to show at the edges, so I think I’ll keep them in the plastic wrapping when I’m not using them.

In addition to illustrations, these books also have pop-ups and pull-outs, which emphasizes the playful tone of the product and makes it interactive as well. It made rereading the story such fun! There are many illustrations throughout with something to look at on almost every page.

This is what I was expecting when I picked up the illustrated editions by Jim Dale. Sure, those illustrations are gorgeous and detailed, but there aren’t as many illustrations in those books as I was expecting (I didn’t count them, so I could be wrong, but reading through, the MinaLima ones just seem to contain more to me). Comparing the two, I much prefer the MinaLima ones. I think they do a better job making the story more enjoyable and fun to read. I also love that their illustrations lean more toward being colorful and vibrant, which I think matches the Wizarding world more (especially in the first couple books), than the dark colors often used in the movies… and (kinda) in the Jim Dale books, actually. They aren’t as dark as the movies, but they aren’t as vibrant as I was expecting either.

So, yea, the MinaLima books are favorites for me. Actually, chatting about them here makes me want to reread them just to look at the illustrations and play with the pop-ups and pull-outs again. I really hope they do all the books and if so, I can’t wait to see what they do with the fourth book.

Overall:

★★★★★ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, illus. by MinaLima
★★★★★ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, illus. by MinaLima

Of course, it’s 5 stars for both books! They were wonderful, delightful, and fun and exactly what I needed at the time I read them.

Buy | Borrow | Bypass

I highly recommend getting both. They are beautiful.

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