Pottermore Publishing Makes Ukrainian Digital Editions of “Harry Potter” Free to Read
Pottermore Publishing has teamed up with a Ukrainian publishing house to offer all seven Potter e-books for free to readers affected by the current conflict in the country.
Like many people around the world, the team at Pottermore Publishing felt compelled to do something after the invasion of Ukraine began earlier this year. Digital editions of Harry Potter have not previously been available in Ukrainian. However, through working with Ukrainian publisher A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha, Pottermore has released PDFs of the first three books in the series. These are now available via a special landing page for “the families whose lives have been so radically impacted by the conflict.” The intention is to add the remaining four books in the series to the landing page as soon as possible.
When the invasion of Ukraine began, our team were appalled by the impact that it would have on so many children and families and like everyone else, wanted to do something – however small – to help. And so we’ve been working to find a way to make the Harry Potter books available to read online, for free, for all of the families whose lives have been so radically impacted by the conflict.
This has not been without its challenges, as we haven’t previously published digital editions in Ukrainian. However, thanks to the ingenuity of our teams and kindness and support of the local print publisher, A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha, we’ve been able to make these stories available to Ukrainian speakers for free. We are providing the books via this website so that they will be accessible from most web-connected devices, wherever they may be.
Pottermore realizes that PDF readers don’t always “provide a perfect reading experience” but wanted to do something to help make books available online quickly and for free for as many people as possible. The team is now working with Lumos and other aid organizations working with Ukrainian people to raise awareness of the books’ availability.
Making Ukrainian e-books available for free isn’t the only action the Wizarding World has taken to show support for Ukraine amid the conflict. In April, Harry Potter books were removed from two of Russia’s largest e-book libraries and a number of alumni put their names to fundraisers and charity appeals.
Overall, Pottermore hopes that making the series available for free to Ukrainian readers will “bring some small measure of light to the lives of so many people living through the darkest of times,” and we think that’s a magical thing.
