Book Review: Hogwarts Library by J.K. Rowling

Phoenix song is magical

With the movie Fantasic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the book Harry Potter and the Cursed Child coming up, I wanted to do something Harry Potter related. Here I have a review of the three books Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Quidditch Through the Ages.

Book Review: Hogwarts Library by J.K. Rowling

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Title & Author: Hogwarts Library by J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy,
Release Date: November 8 2012
Series: Hogwarts Library
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Synopsis

A highly collectable hardback boxed set from the world of Harry Potter – containing handsome new editions of Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (both in hardback for the first time) and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The Hogwarts Library is an essential collection for any wizard or Muggle home. Eager seekers of wizard learning will find within a treasure trove of magical facts, additional notes from the esteemed Professor Albus Dumbledore, and illustrations from J.K. Rowling. Purchasers can be reassured that two charities important to J.K. Rowling – Comic Relief and Lumos – will benefit from the sale of each set.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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Synopsis

A copy of Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them resides in almost every wizarding household in the country. Now Muggles too have the chance to discover where the Quintaped lives, what the Puffskein eats and why it is best not to leave milk out for a Knarl.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Comic Relief, which means that the pounds and Galleons you exchange for it will do magic beyond the powers of any wizard. If you feel that this is insufficient reason to part with your money, I can only hope that passing wizards feel more charitable if they see you being attacked by a Manticore.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is written in a very funny way, but nevertheless I gave it three stars out of five because I think J.K. Rowling could have added so much more. A lot of animals are not discussed and this really made me sad. I read it one afternoon in the bathtub and for it’s size it was surprisingly empty of content. I do remember from when I was younger the earlier publication of this book, which was just a softcover notebook-size thing, not even worth ten bucks. (Which is why I never bought it earlier.)

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

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Synopsis

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

I loved The Tales of Beedle the Bard! They are funny, witty and thoughtful. Where a lot of our fairy-tales are about silly girls not being able to fight for themselves, needing a hero to save them, these are all stories (except for The Warlocks’ Hairy Heart) about people knowing how to take care of themselves. I like it when that happens.

I am not going to discuss every tale seperately, since they are so very short (literally like 10 pages each or so and 10 pages of notes by Albus Dumbledore). But I liked them all the same. They have, like our tales, a moral and are well done.

Quidditch Through the Ages

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Synopsis

Did you know that: there are 700 ways of committing a foul in Quidditch? The game first began to evolve on Queerditch Marsh – What Bumphing is? That Puddlemere United is oldest team in the Britain and Ireland league (founded 1163). All this information and much more could be yours once you have read this book: this is all you could ever need to know about the history, the rules – and the breaking of the rules – of the noble wizarding sport of Quidditch.

I feel really sad about this book. It is well written, but not very funny and very dry. I did not like it very much. It was just a bunch of information and that was it.

Overall

I still do not think these three books are worth the money, but they are funny and a nice addition to every Potterhead.

Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.

For now, let books enrich your life!

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