The Children’s Book Review | July 22, 2016
Written by Jody Revenson
Age Range: 8 and up
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Candlewick Press (2017)
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9591-0
What to expect: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Fantastic Beasts, family favorite films
Candlewick Press has brought out a new film-companion book on the Wizarding World that is sure to delight fans. Let’s dive in to the spooky side of magic – Wands at the ready!
In THE DARK ARTS: A MOVIE SCRAPBOOK, muggles are treated to an in-depth exploration of the darker parts of Harry Potter’s famous world. The book begins with an explanation of the dark arts, then moves to pages on all the big players in Voldemort’s contingent: Bellatrix Lestrange, the Malfoy family, Fenrir Greyback and more. Each page has fantastic detail and personal anecdotes from the actors, as well as inside looks in to filming those sneaky and sometimes downright evil characters. There are detailed descriptions of Death Eater robes, spooky stickers that readers can use wherever they want to give someone a fright, and top-notch pictures and descriptions of dark objects. One of my favorite “artifacts” was a fold-out letter that readers will well remember. It was written from Albus Dumbledore to Gellert Grindelwald. His famous slanty handwriting springs to life, and it’s even signed with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. A fold-out list of Dumbledore’s army, as well as descriptions of the pro-Harry Potter fighting forces are also richly portrayed.
FANTASTIC BEASTS isn’t left out of the picture, either. The book touches on the lively underground of magic in America. The frightening Obscurus is depicted, as well as other dark forces alive and well in New York City. There’s a real file from MACUSA with secret documents, WANTED posters and a foldout map of magic across America.
The book is a joy for lovers of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World, and would make an excellent gift for the Potterhead who has just about everything. The level of detail in the book is extraordinary, and up to the standards of previously delightful movie tie-in books by Candlewick Press for the Potterverse.
Highly recommended for wizards and muggles alike.
Available Here:
About the Author
Jody Revenson has written extensively about the Harry Potter films, with her most recent books being J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World: Movie Magic: Volume One and Harry Potter: The Artifact Vault. In her first foray into the wizarding world, she edited and contributed to the New York Times bestsellers Harry Potter: Film Wizardry and Harry Potter: Page to Screen.
JK Rowling’s Wizarding World: The Dark Arts: A Movie Scrapbook, by Jody Revenson, was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like JK Rowling’s Wizarding World: The Dark Arts: A Movie Scrapbook by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Books About Movies, Fantasy, Harry Potter, and J.K. Rowling.