If you know me or followed any of my Shelf Life posts, you know I love me some Harry Potter. I’ve read all of the books at least twice, some more. The series made my Top Five Books List. It topped my YA Madness Bracket. And, a trip to HP World with my Sibs is one of my very favorite trips.

The proof is in the {treacle} pudding. I just love it.

So when a new illustrated edition of the first book was announced, I knew I wanted to check it out. But, so did everyone else on the planet because Amazon sold out of their entire stock faster than you can say Alohomora.

Luckily our library had already nabbed a copy and I finally made it to the top of the reserve list last week.

I didn’t plan on reading it, I just wanted to look at it. But I was absolutely transfixed by its beauty. (You know I love pretty books.) I didn’t want to stop flipping through it, so I started reading it on Saturday night before I went to bed and by lunch on Sunday, it was finished. Devoured every page and its intricate detail.

Jim Kay’s illustrations are breathtaking. When you’ve read the books and let your imagination roam, and then seen the movies, and then visited the theme-park version, you’d think it would be hard to imagine this world any differently than what you’ve already experienced. But, Kay’s world is glorious–familiar, yet novel–and surprising. Check out this video about his illustration process and get a sneak peek of drawings for the second book. YES! Please do the entire series!

There are videos online where you can see each page of the entire book, but here are a few of my favorite pages:

In some instances, he illustrates sections from textbooks Rowling published separately so you can see what they’d be studying. Amazing.

Just look at this detail!

Reading this new edition takes me back to when I was first introduced to the series and made me realize how much I’d love to discover this world again for the first time. Luckily, this is as close to that nirvana as I can imagine. Thank you, Jim Kay.