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The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is teaming up with Little, Brown to make Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II script book accessible to people with sight loss.
The charity has created both a braille edition and a giant print edition, both of which went on sale today (1st August), with a talking book version to be issued "very soon".
Little, Brown released the original version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is the script book of the play currently showing in the West End, on Saturday (30th July) at midnight.
Written by Jack Thorne, the play was an instant success for booksellers over the weekend. Foyles deemed it “the fastest-selling book we’ve ever sold”, whilst Amazon said the Cursed Child was its “top pre-order of 2016”.
RNIB’s Steve Tyler said: “Books open up a whole new world for blind and partially sighted people, transforming lives, ending isolation and expanding horizons.
“It’s wonderful that today we can thank Little, Brown for ensuring that people with sight loss can read the latest Harry Potter story at the same time as everyone else.”
In September, another publisher, W F Howes, will publish an edition of the book for dyslexic readers. It will be published using specialist fonts and paper, with a suitable layout and glossary, so all readers can enjoy the book.
W F Howes developed the format based on research from the University of South Wales and the British Dyslexia Association.
Dominic White, head of publishing and commerce at W. F. Howes, said: “We’re proud to be publishing the first ever Dyslexic Readers’ Edition for J. K. Rowling and making the eighth Harry Potter story accessible to the huge number of people with dyslexia.”