children books

Although not a necessary addition to everyone's personal Harry Potter library, these two little books are quite interesting and a lot of fun to read. They are both quite short, totaling less than sixty five pages apiece, but they are wonderfully put together and made to look like copies of real books from the Hogwarts library. None other than Albus Dumbledore himself writes the introduction to each book, explaining how and why these books are being made available to Muggles for the first time and explaining how proceeds from each book go directly to a fund, set up in Harry Potter's name by Comic Relief UK and author J.K. Rowling, which is dedicated to help children in need throughout the world.

Quidditch Through the Ages, penned by Quidditch expert Kennilworthy Whisp explains the ultimate sport of wizards from top to bottom, giving the centuries-old history of the game as it has evolved. First and foremost, he explains why wizards and witches employ brooms to fly on in the first place, and then he proceeds to give an account of the changing rules of the game from its early days of primitive baskets set atop poles to the standardized and world-sweeping format of today. Of most significance and interest is the story of how the Golden Snitch was introduced into the sport. Different strategies and maneuvers are named and explained, the thirteen Quidditch teams of England and Ireland are identified, some of the seven hundred types of fouls are explained, and some of the most memorable games and individual performances are detailed (including the Tutshill Tornados' Roderick Plumpton's amazing snag of the Golden Snitch only three and a half seconds into a game back in 1921).

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander is a compendium of all the fantastic beasts currently known, from the Acromantula to the Yeti. Prior to the actual listings, Scamander explains the criteria by which some beings have come to be labeled beasts (it's more complicated than you might think) and devotes some time to the obvious question as to why Muggles seem to spot such creatures only rarely. Each listing also carries the classification assigned each beast by the Ministry of Magic, which is important information given that these beasts range from the harmless to the controllable to the incredibly dangerous. Along with fascinating descriptions of the animals we have already encountered in the Harry Potter books, there are some real jewels of information included here, solving several Muggle mysteries such as that of the true identity of the Loch Ness Monster. Fantastic Beasts is a copy of Harry Potter's own personal copy of the book, and its margins are dotted with little notes ranging from the mundane to the bitingly funny written by Harry, Ron, as well as Hermione. Now, if we could only get our hands on A History of Hogwarts; I'm sure Hermione has a copy they can use for the printing of a Muggle edition.

No Harry Potter fan can be without these little books. Both of the books are modeled after the textbooks mentioned in the series and are written by the great authors Kennilworthy Whisp and Next Salamander(but with the help of JK Rowling). They also have a foreward by Dumbledore, in which Dumbledore explains that the purpose of releasing the books for muggles is to raise money for charity. Any muggle will have fun reading all of the many sections of these books about Quidditch and magical beasts. The Fantastic Beasts book, which I have read the most, is is a very good branch of Rowling's imagination. It talks about many different creatures, both dangerous and peaceful. Harry and Ron have written many notes in the book, some relating to the Chudley Cannons, some about Hagrid's love of monsters, and many about what they learned from facing monsters(they can confirm that there are giant spiders in Scotland). The other book is taken from the Hogwarts library, and we can tell that all of the Quidditch players have used this book often. It describes the history of Quidditch, the rules, the ancient forms of Quidditch, and the popularity of the game. It's pretty amazing what one can learn from these books. We learn that dodos aren't really extinct, but are magical birds that disappear from muggle sight. We learn that fairies lay eggs and grow in cocoons. We learn that America, Quodpot is more popular than Quidditch. We also learn the ten most common fouls of the seven hundred fouls that exist. We can even learn how many dollars Galleons are equivilent to. These books help us learn a part of the Harry Potter books we didn't know. Anyone impatient for the next book in the series will find relief here. I can assure you will love laughing at the cute humor. I hope for more text books in the future!

If your children are Harry Potter fans and read these books the odds are very good that they will throw quotes and 'facts' from these books at you at every opportunity.

These books are very short and filled with information that fills in and enhances the novels of the Harry Potter series. I have found that the information within them rounds out Rowlings magical universe.

If you are looking for a novel however these are not for you. They are reference books describing some of the magical creatures in the Harry Potter series or explaining the origns and rules of Quiddich. Good easy fun.

I would also like to add that these books would be ideal for a child who does not like to read but likes the H.P movies. They just might entice the non reader to pick up the H.P novels.