Rating: 
Summary: Nice writing, but too short to savor
Review: J. K. Rowling wrote two excellent filler books for those who are waiting for the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The only problem was that they were too short to savor!The first book is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, a book that tells about all known magical beasts. The book gives classifications, descriptions, and locations of beasts, as well as the definition of beast and other things. The other book is Quidditch through the ages, a book talking about the evolution of everyone's favorite wizard sport, Quidditch. It tells about how the sport evolved, how it is played, and it gives information on the professional teams and Quidditch playing nations. Personally, I found Quidditch Through the Ages more enjoyable, though both were well written. My only problem with them was that they were much too short to really enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Potter Books
Review: I would recomend this book to anyone who likes Harry Potter. I really like the Harry Potter series, and since the 5th book isnt supposed to be out for a while, these books keep me from going crazy, since I am a Big Harry Potter fan. I thought Quidditch Through the Ages was better than, Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them. Quidditch Through the Ages had more detail, and if you have never read Harry Potter gives you alot of backround on what you will read in the series. My faveorite part of Quiditch through the Ages is when they explane how the Golden Snitch came to be in the game. My favorite part in Magical Beasts and Where to Find them, is all fo the writings by Harry, Ron and Hermoinie, along the sides.
Rating:
Summary: Quiddich almost up to snuff
Review: Quiddich Through the Ages was quite amusing, though perhaps not at thorough as P.L. Kingswood's 'Complete Quiddich' which remains the definitive, if hard to locate, work on quiddichery.
Rating:
Summary: They're both great!
Review: Short but very funny. The magical equivalent of "1066 and all that". But they are not supposed to be real serious books, like I presume the version of "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them" was that Harry and his friends used. I'm sure this is just an excerpt from the textbook, so people should calm down about it not looking like a real textbook! Eileen
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, and for Charity!
Review: I enjoyed these books, though they are very short. A lot of the details are enormously interesting. Kennilworthy Whisp does a great job describing Quidditch ;-) Anyway they are certianly worth the paltry price considering it's for charity. I thought they were interesting and a must for the HP fan. You'll delight in Harry's world of magic! Now if we could just get someone to publish "Hogwarts: A History"!
Rating:
Summary: The Best to book to read while waiting for HP V
Review: I loved Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them. They were both very well written and fun to read. Although they were great I do wish they were both a little longer and in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them I wish it had longer descriptions of the beasts/beings and had many more pictures. Otherwise these were both great books. Harry's comments were a nice touch to FBAWTFT!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: These were really great books, lots of people say they are BOTH textbooks, but only the one is. "Quidditch Through the Ages" was simply a library book meant for background reading, I particularly liked the descriptions of different Quidditch teams. My favorite parts of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" were Ron and Harry's written "notes". The one I liked best was "CHUDLEY CANNONS write a decent team in my book for a change Weasley" in the front. These are books any Harry Potter Fan MUST read.
Rating:
Summary: Additional Rewards, by fermed
Review: First we have Rowling's two charming little books, one a bestiary, the other a sports manual, both essential companions to the Harry P. series, packaged together as a unit; then we are told that the profits created by these books are going directly to a charity for children, so that for less than ten bucks we are entertained for a couple of hours, our mind is expanded by magic prose and wild imaginings, and in the process, we are being charitable. What more could we ask? Well, ask. Yes, there is more. Lexicographers, amateurs or not, will derive instant gratification from the range of creativity found in the names that Rowling's beasties bear. The company of an unabridged dictionary (the OED will do) is guaranteed to enhance the enjoyment of these books, especialy the bestiary. There are 84 creatures in it, some with common names such as pixies, goblins, imps, ghouls, trolls and so on. These appear without dramatic changes in their configuration; but little did we (well, I) know about things such as their feeding patterns, personality traits, forms of reproduction, habitats and geographical locations. Then there are the names that come from ancient mythologies, such as dragons, phoenixes, manticores and basilisks. A check of the dictionary provides a good source to understand the transformations the author has given those animals. Then there are, of course, wonderful neologisms for invented creatures: my favority is the "plimpy," a spherical fish with two legs who bottom-feeds on white snails. The drawing that appears in the book looks precisely like something that is called a "plimpy" should look. At least 25 of these creatures appear in the book, bearing their fantastic names (a malaclaw, a lethifold) which at time evoke English words. There are sudden surprises: take the Erumpent, the huge African horned quadruped that looks like a rhinoceros from a distance. Their horns contain a liquid which, when injected, causes the recipient to explode. OED states that "erumpent" means "That bursts forth." Some neologisms insinuate their meaning: the Augurey is a bird whose song (a low and throbbing cry) was thought to predict death, but now it is known that they just foretell rain. One may have considered the Dodo a dead bird, but far from it: the Diricawls just do not let themselves be seen by Muggles (who called them Dodos) any more. Yes, one definitely should apply a large dictionary to these wonderful new words that J. K. Rowling has served up. It expands the joy of the books.
Rating:
Summary: She Does It Again!
Review: I picked up these books and figured that since they were so thin, they would be a disappointment. I was wonderfully suprised! Rowling manages to pack her charming turn of phrase and magical whimsy into each and every page. The way the books are designed sucked me right in. I think that everyone's fantasy is to actually live in Harry's world, to pretend that Hogwarts is a real, and these books play right into that daydream. I do wish that the paper quality was better, that they had been released in hardback, but in reading through the intro, it sounds like just about everything that went into the book was donated. I hope she writes more of these little treasures!
Rating: 
Summary: Harry Potter Schoolbooks
Review: I bought these books as soon as they came out and red them within the hour. They're surprisingly short and they were easy to read. Both were cute books, but I would only sugest them to they die-hard potter fans. While they are cute to read, I don't think they would as appreciated by those who have only read one or two potter books, or by those who like the potter books but don't obsess over them. Anyway, I did find it enjoyable to read the comments made by Ron, Hermione, and Harry in 'Fantastical beasts and where to find them'-they added some flair to the book. On the whole, I would say read these books if you have nothing else to read. While they are decent, thery aren't spectacular. They cover particulars about the wizarding realm but the information isn't anything new.
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