Magnificent Magical Beasts, big scale book that lives up to its name

As a child I didn’t know anything about fables, beasts or the characters that make up that realm.  My knowledge about them is still limited, but thanks to various movies my exposure to them has increased exponentially. Magnificent Magical Beasts, Inside Their Secret World by Simon Holland is an over sized book that takes a basic overview of mythical creatures from around the world. What makes this book really enjoyable is its size, quality and stunning detail and love that went into the illustrations. Even the feel of the cover draws you in because it has a non-stick, almost velour feel to the paper when you draw  your hand over it.

People who don’t have an interest in mythology will still be attracted to the illustrations here. There are those that you expect, like unicorns, dragons and centaurs. For me, as a casual fan of middle Earth type creatures, I enjoyed the ones that I’ve never heard of before, like basilisks, harpies, chimera, Cerberus and more.

Sphinxes and their history are really amazing. Sure I’ve heard the word, but learning about the legend involving Thebes and the cruel nature of how a sphinx behaved is amazing. The fact that she would present people with riddles and then eat those that couldn’t solve them sounds like a Japanese game show where they punish ignorance instead of rewarding the correct answer.   There were also Indian sphinxes, who knew that?

The worldwide nature of the book is something else that will keep readers hooked. Harpies were mentioned in Dante’s Inferno and are easily some of cruelest things we’ve read about in recent memory. There are numerous dogs or guardians of the dead that each horrifying and beautiful at the same time. The Chimera, a 3-headed lion, dragon, goat monster that can change shapes and was mentioned in The Iliad by Homer.

It was mentioned in classic literature, so it must exist, right? That’s the aspect of mythology and monsters that has always fascinated me. If a thing has been referenced in the annals of history, then it is real. Maybe. Regardless, Magnificent Magical Beasts is a lush, fun to look at book that age 9 and up will love to thumb through. The vocabulary is approachable for that age to where they can read it and the illustrations will be some of the best that those ages have ever seen.  The art in Magical Beasts is created by Gary Blythe, David Demaret, Nelson Evergreen, John Howe, Mike Love, Kev Walker, Helen Ward and David Wyatt.