Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (by J. K. Rowling)

This facsimile edition of Harry's textbook for his Care of Magical Creatures class (complete with his, Ron's, and Hermione's margin notes) consists of an alphabetical listing of magical beasts with a paragraph or two of description for each. The listings also give the Ministry of Magic (M.O.M.) classification for the level of danger posed by each creature.

The book also contains a forward by Albus Dumbledore, and chapters on the definition of beasts, history of Muggle awareness, and other basic information.

Rowling's imagination seems to know no bounds -- this little volume contains descriptions of 85 creatures, some based on mythology and some entirely the author's creation. Though the descriptions are lively, reading this cover to cover can be a little dry for all but the most fanatic Potter fan. Most kids skim through to read all the clever margin notes that Harry and friends have written (the most fun part of the book). These will make sense only to those who have read the novels, and so constitute a sort of in-joke that kids enjoy. Many then go back and read the introductory chapters and a few of the descriptions, leaving the rest for use as reference when reading or rereading the novels.