Character Guide

by Michael Kogge

Relive the movie magic with this hardcover guide, which includes essential information about all the main characters of the film!

Genres: Harry Potter, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Witches, Magic, Childrens

144 pages, Hardcover

Published November 18, 2016

About the author

Michael Kogge is an American screenwriter and author who has written for several Star Wars projects, including the Star Wars Adventure Journal, Star Wars Gamer magazine, Hyperspace, Star Wars Insider magazine, and the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire roleplaying game. He has also authored a series of Star Wars Rebels chapter books, adapting episodes from the show's first season.

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know that I shelved this on several shelves that should be mutually exclusive. I'll explain. It is fiction, of course but movies do get a nonfiction number in the Dewey Decimal system. My library has this book as juvenile but I actually think this movie would be more interesting to adults than kids. It is a fun read and made me aware of a few things I had missed in the movie or forgotten. I certainly hope the sequel comes out in December of this year! The book is nicely put together with mostly good choices of photos. There were a few photos that could have been better picked though.

[Anniek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had a lot of beautiful pictures, but there could have been more interesting facts.

[Kirra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't rate it too harshly because the audience for this book is clearly for children but I still think a child or young adult would be disappointed with the content in this book. The description of the book says it "includes essential information about all the main characters of the film" but actually 95% of the information was already in the film and nothing new to discover.

The Character Guide relayed all of the information we found out throughout the movie but it was also very condensed so there wasn't even much to read. I feel like there was more information they could have pulled from Pottermore and J.K. Rowling but maybe the creators of this book didn't have much to do with any of the creators of the movie.

One thing I did enjoy was the page of the wands because I hadn't seen a close-up image of any of their wands and I found Newt's and Queenie's wands fascinating in detail. There was also one thing that was either cut from the film or too quick for me to notice but I didn't realise Jacob had a fiance that left him early on in the movie so that was a good fact that I learned from reading this book.

I'd recommend this book to children around the age of seven to twelve.

[Donna (will never finish her TBR) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a previous reviewer, it lacked additional information, especially with the wands. Which wood was used? And what beast hairs were used? We simply do not know. That info could be in a different book though. You know, because they like to rinse you of money.
I was also hoping for more info about the Beasts. But the 'character guide' title only applies to humans, with a side dish of the Obscurus. Beast discrimination (sarcasm).
However I LOVED the movie stills, and the additional art in the back of the book.

[ameliesbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 🌟

Bardzo fajny przewodnik. Jestem zakochana w dodatkach na końcu książki. Zacznę od tego, że ja nie przepadam za tym filmem. Ja czegoś się tam dowiedziałam, ale myślę, że dla osoby, która interesuje się tematem tutaj się niczego nie dowie. Szczerze spodziewałam się większej ilości postaci, a tak to najbardziej podobała mi się postać Queenie.

[Niciluuu · Rating 3 out of 5]

War Okay für zwischendurch. Vorallem am Ende gab es schöne Bilder. War weniger Hintergrundeissen als Erwartet:(

Teilweise kam es mir so vor dass die Autorin keine Ahnung von dem ganzen Universum haben. (Bsp. jeder Zauberstab enthält nur eine Beschreibung des Holzes aber es wird weder das Holz benannt nich der kern oder die Länge erwähnt.

[Jemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda dumb, but it's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, so whatever.

[Danni The Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Didn’t really need to into detail about the characters clothes, but it was a nice fresher of information since seeing the film

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is helpful if you want to learn about the characters but it doesn't help with the story very much.

[lena]

kosztowało 10zl w beidronce
dziekuje za uwage
(nie no, ladnie wydane just nic odkrywczego)

[n :D · Rating 4 out of 5]

mam ochotę powyrywać strony i obkleić nimi ściany, te grafiki są takie piękne!!! liczyłam, że będzie więcej faktów/ciekawostek :(

[Hannah Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visually, this book contains pictures of each main character in the movie, “Fantastic Beasts,” and of their defining clothing articles and possessions they each have throughout the movie. This book could serve as a model text for students to pick a character in a novel, or potentially either themselves or another person, and profile them. Written within the book are character overviews for each featured character, descriptions of their significant clothing pieces and possessions, character philosophies, backgrounds, relationships, and defining moments for them as characters. Engaging in even one or two of these practices would allow students to explore a fictional or non-fictional perspective in-depth, allowing them to really look at one piece of a novel or real-life system in particular instead of the entire picture. This would relate to middle school students because they are very focused on creating themselves at this level, so exploring who a character or person is in-depth would be relevant to how their own identity and character compares and contrasts. This activity would additionally work well in conjunction with Kylene Beers’s “character bulletin boards” strategy so the students can take part in the visual aspect of this model text as well.

[TinTin Kalaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice to have/read but not really that necessary. The included pictures and art were amazing tho :)

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave me a little more info for watching the movie. Mostly fluff.

[Ashley Marsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dumb.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Fantastyczne zwierzęta i jak je znaleźć. Galeria postaci" to drugi z dostępnych w Polsce książkowych dodatków do ww. filmu (scenariuszu do nich nie zaliczam).
Wydana w twardej oprawie książeczka ma niespełna 150 stron. Przeczytanie jej, a właściwie przejrzenie to najwyżej 30-40 minut. Idealna do spokojnego śniadania!
Wstęp jest właściwie taki sam, jak w "Magicznym przewodniku po filmie", ale i autor jest ten sam. Powtarza się więc wiele informacji, ale znajdzie się parę nieznanych szczegółów o bohaterach, których mogliśmy zobaczyć na ekranie tylko przelotem. Możliwe nawet, że nie padło w filmie nawet to imię! A przynajmniej ja nie wyłapałam z dwóch, czy trzech. Źródłem tych smaczków jest zapewne sama J. K. Rowling, ponieważ obie książki są oficjalną częścią J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World.
Ponownie raził mnie dziecinny styl opowiadania o bohaterach, częste powtórzenia i o zgrozo złej jakości wydruk. Fotografie są bardzo ciemne i niejednokrotnie po prostu niewyraźnie lub ziarniste. Nie wygląda to zbyt dobrze, zwłaszcza przy 35 złotych za 145 stron, które w większości są zdjęciami z filmu lub sesji do niego. Sumiennie ostrzegam, że choć nie da się po prostu nie dotykać stron przy ich przewracaniu, to trzeba uważać, ponieważ robią się od razu ślady palców.
Na końcu "Galerii postaci" znajduje się za to obłędny graficzny dodatek mini plakatów z bohaterami oraz magicznymi zwierzętami. Nic tylko powiesić na ścianie tego ślicznego niuchacza!
Ogólnie rzecz biorąc polskie dodatki do "Fantastycznych zwierząt" niekoniecznie mnie powaliły, choć lepsze to niż nic, biorąc pod uwagę, że do filmów o Harrym przewodników czy czegokolwiek innego się nie doczekaliśmy.
6/10

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find them is a MUST see, easily one of the best films of 2016. I’m Potter-head through and through and watched it no less than 3 times in theatres. I devoured the screenplay for the movie in an evening, and still, I’m competely head-over-heels in love with this new universe and extension to the wizarding world of Harry Potter fandom. I’m a huge huge huge merch collector (but I’m also a thrifty gal who doesn’t drop my cash whenever I see anything that makes me go “AGHH MY GAHD HARRY POTTER.”, which is good, ‘cuz if I went with that reaction I’d be BEYOND broke right now.) The Fantastic Beasts Character Guide is not, however, a must read. I’ve paged through this book, The Fantastic Beasts Character Guide at Books-A-Million and Barnes & Nobles, but never actually read-read it, until today, where we got in a copy at the library I work at.

First of all, I gotta say as far as content this book is kind of a bummer. Sure, there’s an abundance of glossy, detailed, full colour photos of the characters throughout and the graphic design layout of the pages is pretty darn legit and easy on the eyes, but any kind of BONUS content is non existent. I was fervently hoping for another kind of Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey -- aka one of the best, most bad ass behind the scenes books out there, a tome that’s bigger than even Hogwarts a History and chock full of photographs, concept sketches, handwritten notes from J.K. Rowling, interviews with the cast and extensive insight and commentary from each of the four directors who had a hand in bringing Harry’s journey to life on the big screen.

Instead The Fantastic Beasts Character Guide is very vanilla. There’s no finesse to the writing, no kind of narrative structure, instead it rehashes the entire plot of the movie I know, I know! There’s absolutely nothing new to be gleaned from this guide. It’s a lifeless handbook that just lists out obvious facts about the characters. Even as the die hard fan I am, I can’t justify buying this. Sure, if I had a daughter aged 10 or younger, I’d get her this book in a heartbeat because the writing style is very suitable for early/emerging readers. It’s a real shame that the author didn’t take it a step further and add in any soundbites from the actors. There are no fun little anecdotes in here, or behind-the-scenes tidbits that went into making this film, it’s just a straightforward guide through and through. Disappointing. But hey, at least we have Harry Potter Page to Screen !!!!!!

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a look at all the characters in the film and goes into a bit of detail on each. Some characters get more coverage than others, but every character is accounted for. For those who very much enjoyed the movie, this book is a lovely companion to not only read about them and what they wear, but to also catch a glimpse of who these characters are as people. The book tells its reader a little backstory into the characters that you may not get from the film, as well as what their philosophies are. It’s crafty with lots of pictures from the movie as well as some artwork that is really well done. For a character guide it’s comprehensive and very easy to read with lots of images.

[thekwinrudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking us into the 1920's way way before the events of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Fantastic Beasts introduces a whole new set of characters that had been mentioned somehow in the HP books.

For one, when the movie came out, I was confused with the jumping timelines, genealogy and linkages between the characters in Fantastic Beasts vs Harry Potter. I actually watched Fantastic Beast twice and Crimes of Grindelwald twice -- because I was so baffled.

This character guide had me connecting the dots and presumably, had me wanting for more. I'm still hoping they give more backstory on Nagini and Credence.

[Maarit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joo, ei. Rahastuksen makua, ihan kivat kuvat, mutta siihen se sitten jäi. Tekstiä niukasti eikä se vähäkään määrä tarjonnut oikeastaan mitään uutta tietoa liittyen elokuvaan taikka sen hahmoihin. Joidenkin "alaotsikoiden" alla oli hyvällä tuurilla ehkä yksi kokonainen lause, eikä tekstinpätkiä pituudella pilattu kyllä muutenkaan. 2 tähteä, yhden olisi saanut, jos olisin itse joutunut tämän ostamaan. Ehkä jonkun nuoremman fanin silmissä enemmänkin arvoinen, tällainen kyyninen ihminen ei kuitenkaan noin vain lämpene tällaiselle tekeleelle värikkäistä kuvista huolimatta.

[Carla Gebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gestaltung:
In diesem Buch werden sehr viele Momente aus dem Film festgehalten und dies auf wirklich schöne Art und Weise!

Inhalt:
Dieses Buch kümmert sich um die alle Personen die im Film eine Rolle gespielt haben und man lernt vielleicht noch etwas mehr über sie.

Meine Meinung:
Dieses Buch zeigt auch ganz viele tolle Szenen aus dem Film, jedoch geht es näher auf die Figuren ein und das ist auch gut so. Man hat durch dieses Buch eine Art Steckbrief und mir gefällt es sehr gut.

[RumBelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a highly detailed guide. Each of the main characters was discussed over approx. ten pages. Things like their outfits, and why they worked, their wands, any accessories, their jobs and personalities and so much more. The photography was wonderful, vivid and detailed. The final few pages of the book was devoted to the creatures, but it was only photographs, no information, which I thought was a missed opportunity. Wonderful character guide.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great guide to the characters of Fantastic Beasts. Most of this will be known to Harry Potter fans but there are good some good added details. There are also a few characters and story arcs that I do not remember (at all!) from the movies, such as that Jacob was engaged and his fiancee broke up with him when he got the loan. Perhaps these were in a play???

[Susan Kosel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read before seeing the movie.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was disappointed by everything they left out.

[Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for an HP trivia night. It's a good refresher but doesn't add anything new.

[Jordan Tignor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice quick recap... Helped me remember stuff for the upcoming movie.

[Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

lot of characters