Rating: 
Summary: A great resource
Review: This little book is a great resource for us Harry Potter fans. (Yes, I'll admit it, I'm hooked.) The book is a wonderfully eclectic collection of little articles, each dealing with something different from the many J.K. Rowling books. The first four Harry Potter books are touched on, as is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages. A lot is covered in this book, including (but not limited to) the history/mythology behind various magical creatures and creatures, the meanings of various names and words, and much more. A fun read, I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: I am an adult Harry Potter fan, and I found this to be an excellent guide to the historical events and figures behind the characters in the books. I learned about the real Nicolas Flamel, for instance, and about many mythological creatures similar to those in the Potter books. Surprisingly, it is a much better guide than the 500-plus page volume, "Beacham's Sourcebook...Exploring Harry Potter" by Elizabeth Schafer. Schafer's book seems at first glance to be a well-researched guide to the ideas and figures behind the series, but I found her analysis and conclusions to be somewhat forced. It strikes the reader as more of an adult reference book than "The Magical Worlds..." does--this one can definitely be enjoyed by young readers-- but Colbert's guide is much more grounded in fact, sticking to explaining who the historical figures were and what events are related to the Potter books. Each chapter is short, explaining one name, creature, or idea. This made it very easy to explore in short stretches, without having to start from the beginning. It doesn't pretend to offer a deep analysis of Rowling's motives or thought process, but does give us the background to further appreciate her work. Think of it as a quick course in mythology and history as related to the Harry Potter books. I find myself referring to it repeatedly, while Schafer's book sits on my shelf. A must-read for any Potter fan interested in learning more about his magical world!
Rating: 
Summary: Why "The Magical World of Harry Potter" isn't worth reading
Review: Don't be fooled, all ye who are not Scholars! This book is one of the most incorrect books I have ever read! But, David Colbert cleverly disguises ignorance with eloquent words! (I'm not ignorant, by the way, in case you were thinking...). 1. Firstly, I'll touch on a less important mistake; the table of contents on the back of the paperback edition is faulty - it says there is a section on snakes; there is not! But that could merely be dismissed as an accident. It also states, "AND MORE!", when there is just one more (true, but rude). He also names each of his chapters with a question (i.e., "Why are mirrors magical?"), but often times does not answer the question! 2. Secondly, his information is faulty. He did not do he research he should have; for example, he says the grindylow and the jenny greenteeth are the same thing, when they most certainly are not! The grindylow, or grundylow, is a Yorkshire water goblin. Jenny Greenteeth, for one, is individual. She is an old hag that supposedly lives in Lancashire who LIVES IN A TREE hanging over a river. When travelors come by, she reaches out her spidery arm to catch her victim, which she devours with her green teeth. 3. He gives several bogus etymologies (historical roots of words). But the one that really gets my dander up is HIPPOCAMPUS (a horse of the sea). He states, "This sea horse gets its name from the Greek word for horse (hippos) and the latin word for ground (campus)." For those of you not educated in etymology, I would like to point out the first fatal flaw - Latin and Greek NEVER go directly together to make a word. Sometimes, a Greek word is Latinized and THEN is put together, but never without the Latinization. Second, however, is a flaw that even the most unscholarly would notice if they thought about - a sea horse's name meaning, "horse of the land"? Does that make any sense - at all? No. Third, all he would have had to do is look it up in a decent dictionary to find out that, though he was correct about "hippos", he was NOT correct about "campus" - that part is ACTUALLY from GREEK "kampos", meaning, "sea monster" - and thus we have, "equine sea monster". 4. The book is filled with useless information that just takes up more pages. It also shows a lack of imagination - for example, he takes up a whole page whith an excerpt from Tolkein about Shelob, the giant spider, when speaking about the "ancient history and legend" (what????) of acromantulas (J. K. Rowling's giant spiders). On the whole, this book is just a waste of time. I would expect a lot more from David Colbert, who STUDIED mythology in Colledge - though, considering the book states he researches by "reading randomly in the library", it's not too surprising his book is so inaccurate. I recommend "The Sorcerer's Companion", by A. Z. Kronzek and E. Kronzek (father and daughter), which, though it does have its share of mistakes, is much more accurate, is more extensive, and is MUCH more lively and informative.
Rating:
Summary: Great Day, Great Choice
Review: Yesterday was our grandson's birthday and we gave him three choices for spending the day: a museum, a movie or a bookstore. To our delight, he chose the bookstore. He's read all the Harry Potter books published to date, but that didn't keep him from heading to that section anyway. He was convinced that a miracle would occur on his birthday and that there'd be a new Potter. It's great to be young and trusting! At any rate, he discovered The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter by David Colbert, began thumbing it and held it up, saying, "I knew there'd be something good!" The rest of the day was spent reading and eating birthday cake. He pronounced both excellent. That evening he quizzed us on what he had read and it was clear this book will hold him until the next Potter appears. Our thanks to the author for the reading experience and the curiosity it created in other books on history and mythology. I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This is an awesome book. Very informational and alot better thn it sounds. I passed it in the store many times and was never interested. Someone gave it to me as a gift, and I decided to try it and it was almost as good as the Harry Potter books! I gives you alot of insight into the wizard/magical world in the books. I love it and reccomend it to any real fan!
Rating: 
Summary: Nice to have handy
Review: This was one of my Christmas gifts. I had looked at it at the store several times and enjoyed some of the topics but had not bought it since it looked more like an interesting reference book instead of something I would read through. In fact, I have found myself paging through it here and there instead of reading through it just as I thought I would. It is a nice gift and I am glad I have it even though I hadn't bought it for myself. I wonder how close the author's research takes us to good reasons why JKR named or developed characters as she did? I suppose we will never know.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Batch
Review: Having scanned all the books available on the subject, there's no doubt in my mind that this is the absolute best book you can find for anyone interested in knowing more about Harry and what Rowling had in mind when she wrote those fabulous books. It's not only a great read and a great gift to give anyone who loves the Potter books, it's a cleverly designed and illustrated guide that brings the whole word of Harry Potter to life in a way no other book does. This must have been a labor of love for Colbert and anyone who has ever done any research on a subject as complicated as this one can only admire how well he's pulled it off. It's sure to keep the interest going until the next Potter book arrives. Clearly, a "must have" for anyone who's into the Harry Potter world. Applause for the author!
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but misses a few points.
Review: All in all, this book is an excellent guide to the allusions and mythologies that flow through the Harry Potter books. However I cannot give this tome 5 stars, because the author misses some critical (and I feel obvious) points. In discussing the death spell 'Avra Kedavra' the author compares it exclusively with the old magician's phrase 'Abra Kadabra', completely missing the similarities between Kedavra and cadaver. Also Colbert says Sirius Black is named after the Dog Star, Sirius; when it seems more likely Sirius Black was named after the legendary hunting dog of Orion (who also gave the star its name). There are a few other similar oversights (and they may be adressed in future additions) that keep this book from being the perfect guide to the world of Harry Potter.
Rating:
Summary: Impotant features in this book
Review: This book,is a good resource for someone who is a new reader of harry potter.The book is divided into many parts.Each part explains about a particular character from the books by J.K. Rowling.The author also shows some critisism in some parts.When I read the first book of Harry Potter,I had some difficulty understanding it,but this book helped me in this field.The author tells some interesting secrets about some characters from the book(Goblins,giants,etc.)Another thing which I found in my book(which may not be shown in this edition)is that in very minute writng,It has been stated that this book is not approved by J.K. Rowling or Warner Brothers.Pretty interresting,isn't it?
This book has helped me a lot and it may help you too.The literature is very simple and easy to understand.So I reccomend you to buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, but only skims each subject.
Review: The reason I bought this book was because I was taking Latin in school. Realising that the spells were in Latin, I wanted to find out more. However, it only covered about five spells, which was a severe disappointment to me. What this book does, is give an introduction to many things that Rowling has incorporated into the Harry POtter books. This could be viewed in two ways: 1) It is intended as a book that will get you interested in the genius of Rowling, not as a book intended to go in depth on subjects.
2) It is a poor attempt to get money off of Rowlings fame, and only covers what is commonly available. Myself, I think that it is somewhere in between the two. It is oviously at least 50% to get money, as Colbert has another book for LOTR. Both of these have come out at the same time as the movies, leaving no doubt that that was what probably sparked the beginning of them. However, this book does give some very interesting information, espessially since some of it is from a web site that Warner bros ordered to shut down (I never got to this site in time, though from what I gather, it was very informative). All in all, I would suggest this to people who are not HP addicts, but people with a casual interest in finding out more. Any hard core addict would find this a severe disappointment, as most of it can be found online. However, it is nice that it is put all together into one book.
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