Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by New Scamander (J.K. Rowling)



My son Daniel received Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them for Easter and we had a grand time reading it together.  He enjoyed the movie over the winter, but he really liked this textbook by Newt Scamander on the fantastic beasts that he had found over the world.

The book starts with a great introduction defining what a beast is and how they are classified.  It also talked about how Muggles interact with the magical world of beasts.  One of Daniel’s favorite items was a list of the Ministry of Magic Classifications of the beasts going from “X - Boring to “XXXXX – Known Wizard Killer / Impossible to Train or Domesticate.”  The book lists all beasts alphabetically with a brief description of what they are and how they are classified.  He bookmarked the classification scheme so he could quickly flip back and take a look at it with each beast.

Daniel’s favorite beast was the Hodag.  In particular it was his favorite because “It is now confined, mostly successfully, to a protected area around Wisconsin.”  We had to look it up outside of the book and read how the legend persists in the Wisconsin north woods.  Daniel was convinced then that J.K. Rowling has visited Wisconsin and he thought that was very awesome.

Overall, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a quick enjoyable book.  Even young 9-year old Daniel was impressed that proceeds all go to charity.  He loved the format and learning more about the creatures in the Harry Potter series and the Fantastic Beasts movie.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

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