Well-written companion book! (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Comic Relief) - J. K. Rowling)

Member Name: jack_sparrow

Product:	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Comic Relief) - J. K. Rowling
Date:	19/05/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellently written, well-presented

Disadvantages: A bit short

Written by the famous magizoologist (a zoologist specializing in magical creatures) Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them was published in 2001 (together with Quidditch Through the Ages) with the aim of raising funds for UK Charity Comic Relief. It has been calculated that approximately $30 million have been raised from the sales proceedings of these two companion books. The book itself is a reproduction copy of the one owned by Harry Potter, and to the reader's amusement, there are several scribblings and chitchat written all over the book involving Harry, and sometimes Ron and Hermoine, sometimes consisting of references to particular events in the book and general wizarding culture.

With a quick Foreword by Albus Dumbledore, who cheekily tells us at the end that these creatures are merely fictional, the book starts off by introducing the definition of a beast, and what determines being one or not (apparently there has been a lot of disagreement about this in the past). J K Rowling inserts quite a lot of wizarding world historical information; however, given her writing style, you'll certainly keep on reading. Totally amusing, the next chapter is on Muggle awareness of magical creatures, and how certain measurements are taken by the Ministry of Magic to prevent sightings and action taken to alter memories of Muggle people concerned.

The remaining part, which is considerably the bulk of the book, is dedicated to describing most, if not all, of the magical creatures which one can come across in the Harry Potter universe. There is also a Ministry of Magic classification on each creature which tells you whether it is just harmless or else a known wizard killer. Every creature ranging from centaurs to dragons are described in detail. Certain scribblings written near certain creatures's descriptions will crack up most Harry Potter fans, like references to Hagrid's inherent ability of raising creatures that according to this book are classified as deadly or really dangerous.

In my opinion, I enjoyed this book much more than Quidditch Through the Ages, mainly due to the way it was designed, especially Harry's scribblings. It is very useful for younger readers who need to find a description of the creature they read about in the novels; it helps them to understand better. I recommend it to all Harry Potter readers; besides helping Comic Relief and vulnerable, poor people around the world, you will also get a great companion book! The only shortcoming is that the book is rather short, however, really interesting.

Summary: My review of the book