Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book Hardcover – Pop up, November 16, 2010

Great book for any Harry Potter fan

My daughter and I both love pop-up books and I finally got around to buying this Harry Potter pop-up. It is quite simply an astounding piece of work and a marvel of paper engineering. When I opened the book, I saw a large, thick purple envelope which opens to reveal several items. There is a large poster of Harry Potter riding Buckbeak, a Wanted poster for HP, and also a Ministry of Magic announcement regarding Death Eaters. Then there is a little red envelope that opens to reveal a Howler (nothing to match a real-life Howler, but still impressive).Altogether there are five full page pop-ups, and yes, I wish there had been more, but considering how intricate each of these pop-ups are, I'm satisfied. The first pop-up is of Diagon Alley, and there is a smaller pop-up of darling Hedwig, the snowy owl and beloved pet of Harry. It was interesting to discover that Hedwig was played by a real-life snowy owl named Gizmo and several stand-ins. There's also a small pop-up of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes storefront.The second pop-up is my favorite, that of the amazing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is truly an amazing example of paper engineering, and reminded me of the life-size model which I saw when I visited the Wizarding World of HP at Orlando last fall. Then there's a small pop-up of the Durmstrang ship and also the Beauxbaton's carriage which appeared in HP and the Goblet of Fire.The third pop-up features some of the magical creatures that make their appearances during the various Harry Potter films. There is Aragog the giant spider, Buckbeak, thestrals, centaurs, and Hagrid's brother Grawp. Also featured is Hagrid's hut with Hagrid and his pet dog posing outside. The two smaller pop-up inserts feature Fluffy, the three-headed dog which guarded the sorcerer's stone, and the scene where Harry and his classmates are repotting mandrakes.The next pop-up features Magical Games and Sports and opens up to reveal Harry trying his best to get the Golden Egg from the Hungarian Horntail. The dragon looks magnificent! The smaller pop-ups feature a miniature Wizard's Chess session as seen in HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the second one opens to reveal Ron in a victorious moment during a game of Quidditch.The final pop-up is the darkest in theme and appearance. It reveals the Dark Arts as depicted in the Harry Potter movies. There's Harry stuck in the graveyard, at the mercy of Lord Voldemort with his cronies there to assist him (Lucius Malfoy, Wormtail, and other Death Eaters). A smaller pop-up features Nagini, Voldemort's giant snake, while another reveals the gruesome Inferi, and finally the last little pop-up is one of the Dementors.This pop-up book makes a nice addition to any Harry Potter fan's library.

Both ruggedly built and finely crafted, this book is a delightful blend of exceptionally detailed art and in-depth, behind-the-scenes information that both children and adults can enjoy equally. When I first opened the book, I was enthralled with the breathtaking art. The pages are lush and realistic; flipping through them is like flying through the world of Harry Potter on your Firebolt.As if the fantastic artwork were not enough to make me buy this book, the unbelievable amount of source information on the filming of the Harry Potter franchise puts this book in a rank of its own. I have seen other well-made pop-up books about famous films, but I have never before seen one that explains about how the film was made and how the scenes were conceived. This book goes so far as to tell you the real-life name of Hedwig and the fact that the owl had "stand-ins." Because of this level of detailed information, reading it is a very satisfying learning experience. And if you are thinking that this information targets a more mature audience, think again. This book's descriptions of behind-the-scenes facts are written in a manner that most reading levels can easily grasp.Adding together the brilliant artwork and informative content of this book, I would highly recommend its purchase to any Harry Potter fan.

Absolutely an amazing pop up book - I bought it for my four year old granddaughter, it’s colorful artistic design is fun and will capture any child’s imagination to read and enjoy

I think this is pretty neat, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I paid seven dollars for this (new, hardcover, including shipping) through a third party seller. Had I paid Amazon's price of 25 dollars (never mind the retail of 35), I would have been rather disappointed. I gave this book four stars based on a price around 10 dollars or so. Any more than that, and I would have left three.Things I like:- The artwork was nicer than I expected, given the cheesey cover. The characters within look much less cartoonish than you would expect, and I quite liked that.- It comes with a ministry envelope with three small posters (Undesirable Number One, a death eater warning, and a picture of the cover art) and a mini pop-up howler.- The information talked about is interesting and not too well known, except to people that have watched most/all of the behind the scenes footage and documentaries.- Several of the scenes (Diagon Alley, Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest) are really engaging.Things I don't like:- There are only five scenes with pop-ups. (The first is Dumbledore's office, but all it has is the ministry envelope and the howler.)- The scene for the Triwizard challenge and the graveyard scene are rather plain and unexciting. The dragon in the Triwizard scene looks... strange. The positioning is weird.- The art is good, but the pop-up quality is only so-so. The castle especially sticks and doesn't open up right. I have to fiddle with it, and even then it still seems a little off.- The numbers for the legend are really hard to see. I understand that they didn't want them to stand out and be distracting, but I genuinely couldn't even find some of them.All in all, it was nice to look at, but it's a quick read. I have seen a few other adult (ish) pop-ups that retailed around the same price, and I expected it to be like those, so perhaps that's why I was a little let down. I imagine a young child would destroy this rather quickly, so I don't know that this would be a good gift for really young fans. I would highly recommend checking out the prices of third party sellers through Amazon, to get a more reasonable price. I'll probably prop this open next to my other HP things, probably on the Hogwarts or forest scene.