Invaluable Harry Potter Fanfic Resource and Fun Read
Written: May 29 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: Amusing, interesting, and fun!
Cons: Could include more information than it does.
The Bottom Line: Every Harry Potter fan should have a copy of this, particularly a fan who indulges in writing fanfiction or roleplaying in the world of Harry Potter.
Jellyn's Full Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Books
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling is a great resource for Harry Potter fans and a fun read.
Summary
This book is on Harry Potter's required reading list for his first year at Hogwarts. Presented here, it looks to be the actual copy he used. Whatever the picture on this product entry might show, the cover of Fantastic Beasts reads 'Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them - Newt Scamander'. The drawing on the cover makes it look like red leather with gold metal corner caps. Right away you get a sense of the humor contained in the book because the drawing on the cover also has scratches where some beast has clawed it and a peeling label that reads 'Property of: Harry Potter'.
Table of Contents:
About the Author - About Newt Scamander, the author of this 'textbook'.
Foreword - Written by Albus Dumbledore, it explains why and how this book is being presented to us Muggles and talks about Comic Relief UK, the organization that Rowling is donating the proceeds of this book to.
Introduction - This is a good overview of what this book is, the definition of a 'beast' as opposed to a 'being', and some background history on how the Ministry of Magic has dealt with magical creatures.
The Entries - This is the real meat of the book. Many magical creatures have entries in this book. They are in alphabetical order, so it's very easy to find the one you want. They are each given a classification based on how dangerous they are, ranging from X to XXXXX.
Sample Entry: "Tebo - M.O.M. Classification: XXXX - The Tebo is an ash-coloured warthog found in Congo and Zaire. It has the power of invisibility, making it difficult to evade or catch, and is very dangerous. Tebo hide is highly prized by wizards for protective shields and clothing."
The above sample entry is one of the shorter ones. Dragons, for instance, even get sublistings based on the type of dragon. Some other entries include billywigs, fire crabs, kneazles, flobberworms, and pixies. The puffskein entry is a must-read!
As you can tell from the above list, some of the creatures have names you're familiar with, while others do not. Rowling has invented some of her creatures from whole cloth and taken others from legends, fairy tales, and other sources and added her own dimensions to them.
Adding to the charm of this book, Harry and Ron have both doodled and written additional notes in the text. You did know 'dungbombs rule', right?
Reading this Book
It's very enjoyable to read this book straight through from cover to cover. You can, however, skip around to your favorite entries.
I don't recommend this book to people who aren't somewhat familiar with Harry Potter. You'll have no idea what the Ministry of Magic is, for one thing. If you've seen the movies, you may be able to understand it better than someone who hasn't, however I still think you won't get the full understanding and appreciation of the book. So my recommendation is to read at least Sorcerer's Stone/Philosopher's Stone first, and then pick up this book.
What I find this book particularly useful for is the online roleplaying game I play on. If you roleplay in the world of Harry Potter or write fanfiction, this is an invaluable resource. (This isn't advocating copyright infringement, as Rowling herself as stated she doesn't mind fanwritten fiction. Yay, Rowling!)
If you're a fan and haven't read this, what are you waiting for? If you know a fan who's impatiently awaiting the release of the next book, I highly recommend getting this book and Quidditch Through the Ages to tide them over.
Disappointment
As a textbook, this falls far short. It's only 42 pages long and my version is even paperback. I would like to see a lot more information about each animal and some more animals included. But, maybe I'm greedy.
Since Rowling has written several books since the release of this one, there is additional information mentioned in those books about these creatures that is not in this book. For example, that bowtruckles like fairy eggs as well as wood lice. I would like to see an updated version of this book once Rowling has finished the Harry Potter 7-book series.
Details
My version is paperback and published by Scholastic, but the spellings are the original British. It's ISBN: 0439295017 and the cover price is 3.99$ or 14 Sickles 3 Knuts. I don't advise using these prices as a basis for Wizarding UK->Muggle US conversion, however, as they contradict other sources.
You can often find this book for cheaper at online discount stores, however I don't know if Comic Relief UK sees any of that money. This book is often packaged with Quidditch Through the Ages, also a fine book.
This paperback is more than an exciting new book for Harry Potter fans, Proceeds from the sale of this book will aid Comic Relief UK (not affiliated w...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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