Today Marshmallow goes back into the world of Harry Potter and writes about a 2021 book about its many fascinating creatures: The Unofficial Harry Potter Bestiary: MuggleNet’s Complete Guide to the Fantastic Creatures of the Wizarding World, published by Media Lab Books.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like the wonderful world of Harry Potter or reading about magical creatures, then this might be the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): The Unofficial Harry Potter Bestiary is a full A to Z guide to all the magical animals and creatures in the Harry Potter Wizarding World. Similar in format to The Unofficial Ultimate Harry Potter Spellbook, which I reviewed earlier, this book includes detailed information on pretty much every magical creature or animal ever seen or mentioned in the Harry Potter universe, with citations of where and when it was seen or mentioned.
This book also has information about unnamed mundane creatures, enchanted animal candy, house mascots, known animagi and their animal forms, Patronuses and their known shapes, the finer points of potion ingredients, Quidditch critters by team, transfiguration spells with animals, and Luna Lovegood’s magical menagerie.
Marshmallow’s Review: If you enjoyed reading any of the Wizarding World books written by J.K. Rowling, then this book will make a great addition to your knowledge base. Size and notable features of, and fun facts about all sorts of magical creatures make this a must-have for Harry Potter fans. A handy table of contents in the beginning makes the book easy to navigate and allows you to flip to whichever page you need. Stories about Muggle perceptions and notable members of each species make this a great read for any and all interested in delving deeper into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
While Newt Scamander’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a great book to read, too, The Unofficial Harry Potter Bestiary furthers the world of Harry Potter with extra fun facts. If I were to compare Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Unofficial Harry Potter Bestiary, I would say that Newt Scamander’s is more of a field guide for wizards and witches, whereas, The Bestiary is more for Muggles interested in learning about magical creatures. The Unofficial Harry Potter Bestiary goes more into depth with information, not only about magi-zoology (but there certainly is a lot about it too!), but also about animals and creatures in the entirety of the Wizarding World, such as Patronuses, Animagi, and enchanted animal candy. The Unofficial Harry Potter Beastiary also has more information about each species, mentioning notable members of each species and going into how Muggles incorporated some magical creatures into myths, legends, and stories.
This book is appropriate for all ages and is a great read for all, although having read the Harry Potter books before or planning on reading them would be a good idea. I, being a huge Harry Potter fan, loved reading this book and would definitely recommend it to all bunnies great and small.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.
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