Harry Potter - Creatures: A Paper Scene Book by Warner Bros
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2018. ISBN 9781526605849
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Themes: Fantasy, Art. Fans of the Harry
Potter world will be thrilled with this very handsome volume
featuring the fantasy world and dark creatures of the Black Lake,
the Forbidden Forest and the dragons of the Triwizard Tournament.
There are four fascinating paper cut-out dioramas showing the
strange creatures from the films that readers will be find
themselves poring over. Some will be a tad frightening like the
strange merpeople in the Black Lake all coloured in blue black with
a slightly paler blue or the dementors in Dark Creatures, coloured
in paper of the deepest purple. All have Harry Potter lurking
somewhere, his distinctive glasses giving a clue to his whereabouts.
The artistry of the dioramas is incredible. The paper cut-out works
are intricate and beautifully produced in deep, dark, rich colours
and each begs to be inspected closely.
The introduction gives an outline of what is in the book and
interspersed between the dioramas is a double page spread describing
the creatures, some of the films' productions and how the creatures
were designed and filmed, all with illustrations and photographs to
stimulate the imagination. The descriptions of how the creatures
were created for the films, using well known myths for some like the
centaurs and the magnificent red dragons or J.K. Rowling's
imagination for the unknown creatures give the readers an in-depth
idea of the creativity of the film-makers.
This will be a delight for all art lovers who will be intrigued by
the intricate work of the dioramas, while fans of the Harry Potter
world will want to have this in their collection.
Pat Pledger