How and why are the Harry Potter books different in the UK and US?

Question

Why do the UK and US version of the Harry Potter books have different covers? Why are there different versions of the book? I know that they change some of the language to make it easier for those in the US to understand (i.e. some Americans don't understand some of the phrases used in the UK) but why do they have to change it? I think it should be printed the same as JKR wrote it no matter where it is released.

Answer 1

Some of the changes, as you mentioned, are changes to make the meaning clearer (using "sweater" in place of "jumper," for example.) Those changes are the equivalent of translating into another language.

Other changes are made to "dumb down" the books for American readership ("Sorceror's Stone" instead of "Philosopher's Stone.") Those changes are, in my opinion, unnecessary.

Personally, I would like it if the changes were kept to a minimum, but Scholastic apparently has enough power to make edits necessary for the U.S. editions.

Answer 2

They are published by different publishers, who have different ideas about how to make the books most appealing to their own publics. (Look at the covers of the foreign language versions, and you see the same thing for the same reason).

The American publishers (Scholastic) were particularly fearful at the start that the Anglicisms would be a problem for US youngsters, and made editorial changes. As time has gone by, those have virtually stopped. Yes, it would have been nice had those changes not been made, but the publishers after all are interested in selling the most copies that it can, and JKR is too.

Answer 3

The Philospher's Stone was changed to the Sorcerer's Stone for the US release because it is easier to sell kids magic books than philosophy books.
There are subtle spelling differences in US and UK English that makes it necessary to do a version for each country. It would distract the reader if they kept finding spelling errors (colour versus color).
In addition, the more covers/editions a book is printed with, the more collectors need to buy. (US publisher) Scholastic is making extra money off of people who have to have all the editions of the Harry Potter series.

Answer 4

Well, if it were released in France, for example, you probably wouldn't expect it to be in British English.
Some Americans find it jarring to read British spelling and British vocabulary. With a little work it should be possible to purchase the British versions of these books if that's what you really want.