Mary GrandPré video highly recommended

I will get to today's MTV article, but first I want to recommend a wonderful, nearly 30 min. video of Mary GrandPré showing a room of Minnesota children how she draws Harry. It is just so awesome to watch his face emerge from the paper, and hear her funny asides about Hagrid, Krum, Harry, and Harry's scar. The kids are great too.

Minnesota Public Radio interviews Mary GrandPre

Frontispiece, Deluxe edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Copyright 2007 Mary GrandPre.

I am listening to a nice long (spoiler-free) interview of Mary GrandPre, the illustrator of the American editions of the books. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Crann asks a lot of questions about how the artwork comes about, how much artistic license she has, what she feels is so special about the books, and how she was chosen in the first place. Real Player is required; the show was broadcast July 23rd.

Hopefully GrandPre will be interviewed again when she can talk freely about why she chose the specific design elements for the Deathly Hallows covers.

Deluxe edition cover art!

Oh my goodness, we finally have Deluxe edition (U.S.) cover art!

Later edit:
I have been reading some wonderfully creative theories! My own contribution to the nuttiness is in the comments.

From the Scholastic Press Release: David Saylor, Vice President, Creative Director, Scholastic described the art as:

Set during a highly dramatic sunset, Harry, Hermione, and Ron–clothes in tatters–cling atop a flying dragon in this astonishing artwork created by Mary GrandPre for the deluxe edition. As mist creeps down towering hillsides to a village below, questions arise about where the trio is headed and what has led them to this spellbinding moment.

The covers were revealed this morning by Arthur A. Levine on the Today Show (NBC). According to their webpage, "Arthur said the image on the cover is one of his favorite scenes in the book and he specifically asked that it be the image of the deluxe cover."

Usually there is also bonus art inside the deluxe edition. According to the press release, Here’s what we still haven’t seen yet:

* never-before-seen full color frontispiece art on special paper.
* "Illustration Showcase" insert that features near scale reproductions of Mary GrandPre's chapter openers
* bonus black-and-white illustration that appears at the end of the "Illustration Showcase"

The deluxe edition will be a total of 816 pages; the suggested retail price is $65.00 and the print run will be 100,000 copies.