I tried to find it on amazon and BN with no avail. Anyone?

Traditionally, paperback editions come out approximately a year after the first hardcover edition comes out. Probably in a few months. These books, being so popular, will probably move into paperback like clockwork.

Summer 2002 I believe... pushed back from Summer 2001.

~Scheherazade

Here's the history in the U.S.:

Sorceror: HB 9/98; PB 9/99

Chamber: HB 7/99; PB 8/00

Prisoner: HB 10/99; PB 9/01

Goblet: HB 7/00

As the books have gained in popularity, the time between the HB and PB has increased. For Goblet I would predict the summer or fall of 02.

why not buy it from www.amazon.co.uk
It costs £4.89 and they will remove VAT ~ 17.5% and add shipping probably cost no more than 8 dollars delivered to the USA

I got my copy of The Goblet of Fire from WHSmith.co.uk. It was on sale at the time, so even with shipping all the way to the U.S. it was still a good deal.

I actually got all four books from the U.K. -- I already had copies of the first two, but when I found out that the U.S. editions had been tinkered with (even apart from changing the title...grrr) I was seriously annoyed. So when I realized that it was fairly inexpensive to get them from England, I jumped at the chance!

ordway - can you give more info on what was tinkered with?! I'd like to know if I should think about getting the UK versions.

X

I sold my U.S. editions already, so I can't go and check now, but from memory I can tell you a couple of things.

One change that I remember clearly is that at the beginning, there's a sentence in the original that reads "Mr. Dursley went to the baker's opposite to buy a bun." (Paraphrased but with the right words). In the U.S. edition, it's changed to "Mr. Dursley went to the bakery across the street to buy a pastry." (Either pastry or doughnut, I think). That's a pretty radical change! It completely alters the rhythm of the sentence.

Other examples are one-word changes: sweater for jumper, truck for lorry, things like that. Also, I think (but couldn't swear to it) that Hagrid's dialect is watered down a bit.

Now, I can see that there's a case to be made for changing punctuation (the British use a 'single quote' for dialogue, while in the U.S. we use a "double quote") and possibly for changing the spelling on otherwise identical words like colour/color. But changing *words*, not to mention *whole sentences* makes my hair stand on end.

Proponents of the "replace lorry with truck" school of thought say that it will confuse kids to see unfamiliar terms. I say, GOOD! Kids in the U.S. NEED to become more aware that things are different in other countries... a concept like "Hey, people in England say "lorry" instead of "truck" is a very important part of realizing that the United States isn't the whole world, and that different customs, ways of speech, and ways of life exist. Heck, just in the U.S. there are plenty of variations in word choice -- like soda/pop/tonic/coke, just to name one, but I don't hear people worrying about which term gets used in a particular kids' book.

Also, I think kids are much smarter than most people think, when it comes to things like dealing with unfamilar words in a fun story... **IF** they're given the chance. If they're always given easy stuff and never challenged, then of course as soon as they hit something a teeny bit harder or different, they'll cry "I don't understand!" But of all things, a fun read like Harry Potter is the perfect opportunity for kids to get exposed to different styles of speaking and writing and language, without even consciously realizing that they're learning something.

Well, I went above and beyond answering Xander's question, and hopped on my own little soapbox But seriously... I was substitute teaching in a second-grade class yesterday, and several of the kids were in the middle of reading Harry Potter books. (I gained several coolness points by telling them that I'd read all four). They obviously were understanding the story well enough to enjoy it! I'm sure there were words they didn't understand... but they will get more out of it later when they re-read it. (And given the enthusiasm about the books, I'm sure they'll get re-read). By changing the title, not to mention the style of the language, the U.S. publisher made it so that these kids are missing out on a bit of the richness of the story.

I also doubt *very* much that kids in the UK start out reading the first book knowing what the Philosopher's Stone is. They find out *in the story* what it is... and have the added bonus that it has real-world depth and meaning, even if they don't know that when they're reading the book. So, to the accusation that kids in the U.S. wouldn't know what a Philosopher's Stone is, I say... So? They aren't supposed to know, they're supposed to (gasp!) find out in the story.

Whoa, I'm back on the soapbox again! OK, I'll get down now For real, this time!

Thanks for the info. Ordway. I agree with you that children (everyone for that matter) should be more aware of the differences in other countries. Too many kids growing up with extreme naturalistic attitudes. I'll have to look in to getting the set from the UK.

ordway - I agree with everythng you said.

For those of you interested Amazon UK is selling the Harry Potter box set for around 32 bucks shipped.

Here's the link to the set.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...017312-3083037

I actually ordered the hardcover box set. There's just something really nice about a great book in hardcover. After shipping it ran about $55.00

The set looks really nice.



They also had a special hardcover gift set but it was over 59 British pounds so probably about 75-80 bucks. Plus I think the non-gift box set looks neater.

I can confirm that the UK paperback versions have the same cover art as the hardcover ones in Nefarious' picture. They're large-sized paperbacks, too, not "pocket" sized ones. I'm pleased with the way they look.

Interestingly enough, they also have "adult" versions of these books in the UK. I think they just have different cover art.



Personally, I like the artwork on the US hardcovers best of all.

But I'm thinking of getting the UK paperback set so I can read them as they were written.

-David

The US paperback was released recently. I picked up a copy and have plowed thru 2/3's of it in a few days. Interesting to see the characters actually growing, a nice change from when I read Star Trek novels with their big shiny reset button.

A single tissue! Could the Dursley's get any nastier?!

There are actually adult versions of the books in the US too, they have a more serious cover than the goofier artwork of Harry and his glasses that are never on right.