Celebrities reading books has become a bedtime staple for some families. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone will be read by a lineup of celebrities chapter-by-chapter, in a series of free videos and audio recordings set to be released over the next several months. Rowling’s Wizarding World announced seven readers for the special event on Twitter today: Daniel Radcliffe, Stephen Fry, David Beckham, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, Noma Dumezweni and Eddie Redmayne, with more to come.
Each will read different sections of the beloved novel. All 17 chapters of the book will be released between now and mid-summer. Videos will be posted weekly on The Wizarding World website with an audio-only version available for free on Spotify.
Kicking off the series of video readings will be Daniel Radcliffe reading the book’s first chapter, “The Boy Who Lived.” You can stream this reading today on Wizarding World on Spotify.
The special series is part of Harry Potter at Home, an initiative developed by Wizarding World Digital and Rowling’s agency, the Blair Partnership, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with the help of partners including Warner Bros., Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Pottermore Publishing.
The initiative includes an open licence to teachers allowing them to post recordings of themselves reading Harry Potter stories on educational platforms and networks and a dedicated hub of information and activities at harrypotterathome.com. In addition, Amazon’s Audible currently is making the audiobook of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (narrated by Jim Dale) available to stream for free via Audible Stories.
—Jennifer Swartvagher
Featured photo: Julia M. Cameron via Pexels
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