LEGO Harry Potter magical treasury by Elizabeth Dowsett

D.K. Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 9780241409459.
(Age: 9+) Recommended for fans of Harry Potter and LEGO. Subtitled A visual guide to the wizarding world (with exclusive Tom Riddle minifigure) readers will have fun following the wizard's world as well as finding out what LEGO sets are available to build. The cover with its little figure and the end papers with Hogwarts Castle will entice readers in to see what comes next. The extensive Contents page is illustrated with the Hogwarts Castle train, giving a good introduction to the wizardry world. Chapters include Magical Students, Hogwarts and Staff, Wizarding World, Fantastic Beasts and Behind the Scenes, each subdivided with easy to read information. The Introduction tells the reader to "Delve into the pages of this book . . . to discover how this spellbinding world has been recreated in LEGO sets since 2018." On the opposite page, the use of Data files is explained, giving an example with the Set name, Year, Set number, Pieces and Minifigures. As the reader browses through the book they get an excellent idea of the scope and size of the sets that make up this Harry Potter LEGO world. First, comes Harry Potter, and shows the figures change as he progresses from first year on Hogwarts to his fourth year. Then key moments are covered: Privet Drive, Harry at Hogwarts, Ron Weasley and the Burrow, Hermione Granger and so on. There are illustrations of Hogwarts castle (6,000 pieces), Hogwarts Great Hall (878 pieces) Hogwarts' grounds (253 pieces) and Grindelwald's carriage (132 pieces).
The behind the scenes section shows the Harry Potter team at work and gives a fascinating insight into how they came up with the creation of the world, winning two Toy of the Year Awards in 2019. They are interviewed and give their inspiration and favourite characters and show how the figures are made. The character gallery shows all the different figures for each of the characters and there is an extensive index.
Owners of the book will have fun deciding what sets they would like and will get a good overview of Harry Potter's world. This would make a great gift for LEGO fans and a fun look at Harry Potter for fans of the books and movies.
Pat Pledger