Tag: film

Marshmallow began this blog with a review of J.K. Rowling’s The Cursed Child. Recently she began rereading the original Harry Potter series in their illustrated versions, and a couple weeks ago, she reviewed the illustrated edition of the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Today she reviews the second volume, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, illustrated by Jim Kay.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you are reading the Harry Potter books for the first time, or you are rereading them and really like Harry Potter, then this illustrated edition might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Harry Potter is spending the summer with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Dudley, which is not his idea of a good vacation. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon adore Dudley and dislike Harry. The reason the Dursleys dislike Harry is because Harry is a most unusual boy, and the Dursleys dislike everything that is out of the ordinary. And sadly, there is not anywhere else for him to go, as he is an orphan.

Last year, (in the first book of the series), Harry learned that his parents were both wizards, and that they were killed by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort, who was so feared that even after his “death”, people still called him “you-know-who”. You-know-who killed Harry’s parents and then attempted to kill Harry. But somehow, Voldemort’s curse rebounded on himself, and he was weakened, and many wizards thought he was killed. Since Harry was only a baby when this terrible event occurred, he did not remember any of this. He did not even know that he was a wizard, that his parents were murdered, that he somehow “defeated” Lord Voldemort, and as a result, was famous and admired in a world that he didn’t even know existed. He thought that he was a poor orphan and that his aunt and uncle had to take him in and that his parents were killed in a car crash. However, as clueless as he was about his past, Harry did know that the Durleys certainly did not like him and simply tolerated him. They even kept him locked up in a cupboard under the stairs.

Luckily, events last year caused the Dursleys to move Harry to Dudley’s second bedroom. Now they want to lock Harry in his bedroom when Uncle Vernon’s guests arrive. But then, a house-elf named Dobby appears and warns/tells Harry that he can’t go back to Hogwarts, Harry’s school and favorite place in the world, because according to Dobby, terrible things are going to happen.

Harry basically ignores Dobby, even though Dobby makes it pretty hard to do that. When he returns to Hogwarts, which is more difficult than usual for a lot of reasons, he finds that listening to Dobby might have been a good idea. 

Marshmallow’s Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a really good sequel to the first book, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. The book itself is amazing, and with the illustrations, it makes a great choice for readers who are reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, or for readers who love the series and want to reread the books with some new features (like the pictures).

I don’t think that this is a shortened version or a longer version than the original. The whole thing is in here in all its details, and Jim Kay draws beautiful pictures that really bring the story to life. Even in pages that don’t have a ton of drawings, the corners are decorated with related pictures. I found it very interesting to see what Jim Kay thought each character looked like.

Talking about characters, J.K. Rowling is very good at creating characters that are lovable (Dobby), characters that are relatable (Harry), characters that are realistic (Ron, Harry’s friend), characters that are admirable (Hermione, Harry’s friend who is very smart), and characters that are VERY annoying (Lockhart, a professor who comes to teach at Hogwarts).

I think that this is also a great book to read before or after watching the movie version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Here is the trailer for the movie, which I have watched several times already:

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow’s first contribution to this blog was a review of J.K. Rowling’s The Cursed Child. Recently she began rereading the original Harry Potter series in their illustrated versions, and today she offers us a review of the book that started the whole enterprise, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, illustrated luminously by Jim Kay.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like Harry Potter, or if you are new to his world and want to dive right in, then this illustrated version might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): When he was a baby and his parents were killed, Harry Potter was sent to live with his aunt and uncle Petunia and Vernon Dursley. The problem is that the Dursleys want to be ordinary and they don’t want anything to be out of the ordinary, which is bad because Harry Potter is anything but ordinary. Strange things happen when he gets scared or angry. For example, once when Dudley, his cousin who loves to punch him and hit him, was chasing him, he suddenly found himself on the roof of their school.

A little bit before his eleventh birthday, Harry receives a letter addressed directly to his “room”, a cupboard under the stairs, which his aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon, gave him out of the “goodness” of their hearts. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia dispose of the letter, and then more of the same letters come, still addressed to Harry in the cupboard under the stairs, and when his aunt and uncle move him to Dudley’s second bedroom, the address for the letters switches to the second bedroom. When Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon see the letters, they freak out and go to any lengths to make sure that Harry and Dudley don’t see the contents of the letter. They even travel long distances to hide away at a house by the ocean in the hope that more letters don’t come. Meanwhile, Harry’s birthday has been forgotten, and like every other year, none of the Dursleys says or does anything for his birthday.

Then, in the house in the ocean, a giant man, Hagrid bangs open the door and tells Harry that he is a wizard and he has been invited to Hogwarts, a school for witchcraft and wizardry.

But Harry also learns that his parents weren’t killed in a car crash, as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told him. They were killed by a wizard so feared that no one says his name, instead calling him You-Know-Who. You-Know-Who killed Harry’s parents but couldn’t kill Harry, and he himself got destroyed, but some people, like Hagrid believe that he is still out there, waiting to come back.

When Harry goes to Hogwarts, he makes friends and has a good time, except for one professor who seems to hate him and seems to be doing suspicious things. When Harry investigates, with his friends Ron and Hermione, they learn that the nameless horror is trying to return to power. (Dun dun dun!)

Marshmallow’s Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a really good book. And the illustrations by Jim Kay really make it even better. The characters and the plot are amazing. The plot all fits together and the characters are all very realistic. The illustrations really add to the story. I especially liked the pictures of the different types of dragon eggs. The world of Harry Potter is magical and fascinating. The movies brought the magic into life with amazing visual effects. The illustrations do the same in this book format.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.