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EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE AND FASCINATING PLACES by Jody Revenson

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE AND FASCINATING PLACES

From the J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World: Movie Magic series, volume 1

by Jody Revenson

Pub Date: Oct. 18th, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9582-8
Publisher: Candlewick

Glimpses of sets, costumes, and characters from the Harry Potter films and 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Being more a pricey keepsake than a comprehensive introduction to the filmic Potterverse, this album mixes stills, portraits of the nearly all-white casts, concept art, storyboard sketches, and set photos featuring assorted actors and locales. There are also brief nods to a very few of the Muggles and No-Majs who worked behind the scenes. Revenson, author of several previous HP spinoffs, contributes short blocks of puffery designed to tantalize rather than inform: “Eddie Redmayne loved wearing Newt’s coat with its endless pockets.” “When the director and producer saw [Evanna Lynch’s] audition tape, they said, ‘Evanna is Luna!’ ” Etcetera. The first section introduces major players in Fantastic Beasts without spoilers or reference to the plotline; the second looks back through the eight previous films with profiles of, in no particular order, Harry and the rest, Gringotts and Diagon Alley, the Frog Choir, Hogsmeade, and three dozen other people, places, or things. A handful of small folded posters, postcards, stickers, and face masks are tucked into pockets or attached by one corner to a few pages.

Handsomely designed but, even as media tie-ins go, thin sauce.

(Novelty. 7-10)