Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1

By: J.K. Rowling

Narrated by: Jim Dale

Jim Dale's Grammy Award-winning performance of J.K. Rowling's iconic stories is a listening adventure for the whole family.

Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

Close your eyes and enter the magical world of Harry Potter. In these editions, Jim Dale's characterful narration is so entertaining, fun, and theatrical you can almost hear the crackle of the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

Having become classics of our time, the Harry Potter stories never fail to bring comfort and escapism. With their message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.

©1997 J.K. Rowling (P)1999 Pottermore Limited

Critic reviews

"To call Dale a 'reader' of books is like saying Monet was a Sunday painter." (Los Angeles Times)

To the well-organized mind, death is an adventure

Story: It's hard to believe, but this is my first go through of the book... years and years after they were released. That said, I can completely understand how the story captured such a massive audience and created such a following. J.K. Rowling created such a descriptive and imaginative world which is fascinating and easy to follow. The language used, the characters, the imagery are clearly well thought out and developed.

Performance: Jim Dale does a great job capturing the voices of each and every character. Some of the voices just so perfectly match the character description. Plus, being able to give a unique voice to a large number of characters is no easy task. The performance did get a 4-star rating, though, because of the audio issues. Both in Standard and High Quality, the audio would stop for a few seconds as if it were skipping. It doesn't happen all that often and doesn't derail the story, but it occurs often enough to mention.

Overall: I am glad to have finally listened to and heard the book version of this story. It is very interesting and easily captures the attention of the listeners. While I know the book is in the ages 8-10 genre, it's also easy to enjoy in your 20s and beyond!

My all time favorite!

What did you love best about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1?

It had elements of lots of classics from my childhood (I'm almost 50!) but it felt fresh and new. While it's a great good versus evil story, it is also a story filled with nuance- who is really all good? all evil? There is sadness, humor, hope and happiness.

What does Jim Dale bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jim Dale is a superb narrator. He infuses the text with emotion but doesn't make either his emotions or "himself" the story. You truly lose yourself into thinking the characters are speaking.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes...and over and over!

Loved Jim Dale!!!

First time using Audible and I could not love it more. It was a whole experience and I was bummed when it was over 😍 Highly recommend!!!

Timeless Classic Story, So-So Narrator

I love the story and have since childhood- I grew up with Harry Potter!

The only complain I have is with the narrator. He has a perfectly pleasant voice and does many accents well, but I hate how he made the female characters sound. McGonagall sounds drunk half the time and Hermione's voice is a whine. He has her say "Harreeeeeeeeee!" every time she says his name, even when there's no reason to draw out the last part. Overall I don't like his vocals of women characters, but everything else was great.

i listen to this book about once every 2 week

jim dale is ok stephen fry is better but the book is still amazing. and its a one day listen

Well now I know!

I wasn’t part of the HP frenzy when it was at its peak around 10 years ago. I remember renting the first 3 movies in 2005-ish to see what the fuss was about… liking the first one but getting bored by the third.

Many people have told me the books are better than the movies anyway, and can a kabillion fans all around the world be THAT wrong?

I enjoyed Book 1, and I’m in for Book 2; it’s an interesting tale and J. K. Rowling’s imagination is impressive! There is really NOTHING more I can add because I think I was the last person left on Earth who hadn’t read the book yet!

Love the Books, hate the movies!

I saw the first two movies when they were released and hated them. My dislike of the movies kept me away from the Books. I am so happy that I finally gave the Books a chance and I wish I hadn't waited so ong!

Love it

got to say that this book was really good I knew it would be and I really liked the person he was reading it.

love it.

Jim Dale is amazing. The books are obviously great. Still love Harry Potter after years and years of reading.

harry potter is amazing

I love you so much but I didn't know from the movie that I've watched hundreds of times can't wait to chamber of secrets