Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

This compendium of creatures from the Harry Potter universe is a sadly tedious and shallow affair. "But it's for kids" you might say, and you would be right, but I can't see a child having much interest in it either. It is at times charming, with some inventive links to real-world beasts, but overall it's only a treat for the die-hard Potter enthusiasts.

It does, however, have two redeeming features:
1) All the proceeds go to childrens' charities.
2) This particular edition [bc:Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them|36641742|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them|Newt Scamander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511361422l/36641742._SY75_.jpg|4195128] features the exquisite illustrations of [a:Tomislav show more Tomić|573749|Tomislav Tomić|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]. His style resembles renaissance engraving style, and is the perfect fit for a traditional fantasy book. For some bizarre reason, however, his art wasn't seen as fit for the cover. show less

I'm just... completely disinterested in this book. I like the other two Hogwarts Library books a lot, but Fantastic Beasts reads like a textbook and I was utterly bored. I've actually lowered the score from my previous one when I was a kid. A lot of these entries are very vague and unhelpful, especially on the magical creatures that Rowling pulled from mythology. Many of the entries are littered with anecdotes, some of which are interesting, but many of which are not.

Additionally, the book has Ron and Harry's scribblings in it. If they were more frequent, this could have been interesting, but they're only a couple of snide comments about Hagrid and some Chudley Cannons graffiti that really didn't add anything to the enjoyment of the show more book.

I support the original publishing of the book, because Rowling's royalties were donated to charity, but honestly, if you're looking for a compendium of magical beasts... there are more interesting, more detailed ones out there. show less

I have read this companion book to the Harry Potter series many times since it was first published as a fundraiser for Comic Relief. I find it a useful reference when writing fanfiction, a great help when planning games for my Harry Potter meetup group, and a fun addition to the canon that makes the wizarding world feel larger and richer.

When I heard that a new audiobook version was out, narrated by Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beast movies) I hopped on it at once. Hearing Newt's book in Newt's own voice was such a treat, as was all of the bonus content. The book is updated to include information from the first Fantastic Beasts movie and Pottermore as well (such as the workings and culture surrounding MACUSA and show more Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry). It also includes more of Newt's thoughts in a new introduction where he hints at things that might be touched upon in future Fantastic Beast movies (like Albus Dumbledore). These additions made this book come alive for me all over again and made the book a great bridge between the wizarding world I knew from Harry Potter and the larger, international one I know now.

I also loved the sound effects and the way footnotes were represented (not always easy to do well in audiobooks). This is definitely worth an earread, even if you're quite familiar with the original version, as I was. show less

Reseña de Fantasía Mágica

Este es el tipo de libro que me encanta. Lo ideal es leerlo si ya conocen la saga de Harry Potter (todavía puede quedar alguien que no sepa de qué se trata) porque así lo van a disfrutar más y entender mejor. Si la memoria no me falla (hay una primera vez para todo) con que hayan leído hasta La Cámara Secreta ya van a entender.

Para quienes no tienen idea o no recuerdan, Animales fantásticos y dónde encontrarlos, escrito por Newt «Newi» Scamander, es uno de los libros de texto que se dan en el colegio Howarts de Magia y Hechicería (del cual yo no recibí mi carta cuando cumplí 11 y aún no lo supero).
Por única vez es una edición para muggles (o sea nosotros, aburridos e insulsos humanos a los que show more nunca nos llegó la carta) y la copia es la del libro que usaron Harry y Ron, porque cada tanto aparecerán algunas anotaciones hechas al margen -y relacionadas con los libros de la saga- que le suman humor a este librito.

Comenzamos con la biografía de «Newi», que ya es genial. Está escrita -igual que todo el libro- con total seriedad y eso lo hace aún más simpático. Leerán cosas extrañas, curiosas y definitivamente divertidas en este manual. El prólogo está escrito por el mismísimo Albus Dumbledore y es tan gracioso como correcto.

La introducción es larga, como no puede ser de otro modo en un libro de texto de escuela... pero francamente, no tiene desperdicio. Abarca muchos temas. Hay datos de Historia de los magos que fue paralela a la nuestra (y donde muchas veces se cuenta la verdad de sucesos que tuvieron explicaciones más mundanas). Se incluye también el arduo proceso de clasificación de los animales, seres y espíritus y cuando la larga introducción termina, comienza una la lista alfabética que además tiene una clasificación por categoría:

XXXXX Con reputación de asesinar magos / imposible de entrenar domesticar (hay muchas referencias a Hagrid en éstas)
XXXX Peligrosa / requiere conocimientos especiales / magos experimentados pueden manejarlas
XXX Magos competentes pueden salir adelante
XX Inofensivas / pueden ser domesticadas
X Aburridas

Hubo una descripción en particular que me gustó mucho: la del lehifold, muy contrario al gusamoco, catalogado como "aburrido" y que es francamente un bicho muy... aburrido.
Y a pesar de que el libro es (o nos quieren hacer creer) pura ficción, me sirvió para desasnarme sobre que el hipogrifo y el grifo son dos criaturas diferentes. Llevaba años viviendo en la oscuridad de la ignorancia.

No puedo parar de sorprenderme de la imaginación y sentido del humor de Rowling, además de la creatividad que tiene para inventar situaciones absurdas. O en este caso, hábitos inusuales de los animales fantásticos, cuyas costumbres son muy divertidas de leer.
También a veces nos deja entrever datos de Historia de los magos a lo largo de los siglos, y que muchas veces explican sucesos del mundo humano que tuvieron una explicación mucho más mundana.

Si pensamos que este es en realidad un libro de texto de escuela, disfrutarlo... ¿Nos vuelve un poco nerds? Pero bueno, en Pottermore me salió Ravenclaw así que de todos modos estoy cubierta. show less

I was very excited to finally read this book, since I adore bestiaries concerned with magical creatures, but ultimately I was rather disappointed. The text is, of course, the same as in the original Fantastic Beasts publication (with small additional material for newly "discovered" American beasts), but the illustrations are what really bugged me. Most of them are okay, though not really my style, but in certain cases the author has taken gross liberties with the creatures depicted in the Fantastic Beasts film. She was likely working on these illustrations at the same time as the film was being developed (2017 book release, 2016 film release), but clearly she wasn't talking to the designers for the film, because many of her beasts are show more grossly simplified (sorry, but the erumpent is not the same as a rhino) or don't match the film at all (the occamy, one of my favs from the film, is made out to be a large if colourful heron)! They hint that expanded versions of the book are possible, so if so I hope that they redo the art entirely!

2020 review:

This is the third version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them that I’ve read, but I’m still not satisfied. I like that the new versions include additional magical creatures from the new Fantastic Beasts films, but why are they still not fully illustrating the book? The whole point of a bestiary is to provide knowledge and imagery of the animals in question, so it drives me a bit crazy when the illustrations are few and far between. Sure, we’ve seen lots of these magical creatures elsewhere (Rowling isn’t creating all new beasts afterall), but that doesn’t mean they can skip the illustrations. I want to see the artist really explore the genre, and to give their own interpretations of the magical creatures, since they never look quite the same - which is part of the intrinsic charm of magical creatures! At least the illustrations in this book were quite well done, and seemed to echo a Victorian line art or woodcut style in their black and white simplicity. This is a stark change from the more vibrant and cartoon-like illustrations from the larger version of this book, but I quite liked the effect overall since it reflected a historical perspective and was very unexpected. show less

I listened to the audio book of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them read by Eddie Redmayne in the car on the way to Sydney for Christmas this year. The book is nothing like the movie of the same name. What I found instead was a meta fiction style text book from Hogwarts Library written of course by the talented JK Rowling in the guise of Newt Scamander.

Published in 2001, this is a guide book to the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe. After an introduction about the differences between beings and beasts and then being acquainted with their different danger levels we progressed through an A-Z of magical creatures.

JK Rowling's imagination really knows no bounds, and while the description for each beast was creative, show more informative and sometimes amusing, it was ultimately a dry read. I also think something was lost in the audio experience, as I've seen other readers who enjoyed the illustrations and margin notes from Ron Weasley that obviously weren't available in the audio production.

Overall, this was a great way to break up the monotony of the long drive, but didn't add all that much to my enjoyment of the Harry Potter series. show less

This slim little volume is supposedly a faithful reprinting of Harry Potter’s very own copy of this text book. It includes various notes and drawings in the margins made by the young wizard and his friends as they studied the care and feeding of magical creatures. We learn of the history of the various agencies, councils and departments responsible for regulating creatures, beings, and spirits. The volume explains the classification system (X to XXXXX), the habitats and habits of the various creatures, as well as multiple helpful tips for dealing with them.

It’s a clever premise and wonderfully well executed. My only complaint is the typeface; my older eyes would have liked MUCH larger print, and perhaps more illustrations (though show more it’s nice to let the imagination run wild). All proceeds from sale of this book go to a U.K. foundation that helps disadvantaged children worldwide. show less