BOOK NEWS! You can bring Hogwarts home for Christmas

I am one of those people who looked forward to the Christmas chapter of every Harry Potter book. There was always a turning point such as the Yule Ball or Harry's quarrel with the Minister for Magic himself, but the darkness of a building war always took a small holiday. Now, according to Scholastic , Christmas at Hogwarts can be more tangible than ever.

"Bring Home the Magic Today."

The YouTube video announcing this special picture book is instantly eye-catching. Of course, we recognize the twelve Christmas trees. They're what Hagrid is bringing in just a few paragraphs into "The Mirror of Erised" in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.. In the wake of yet more bullying form Draco Malfoy, Harry cheers up a bit at the sight of the decorations. THere are "festoons of holly and mistletoe" and many decorations on the trees themselves. including "hundreds of candles."

Harry predicts that, because he won't be home for the holiday, "this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had." We don't know what the festive season was like in Little Whinging, but we saw how Dudley's birthday played out and there's little doubt that Christmas was something like that. It might have even been worse, since it's a time to be with family and the Dursleys would hate to include Harry in anything of the sort.

In this tome, artist Ziyi Gao brings the "text drawn directly from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" to life with stunning imagination. On one page, Harry looks gloomily out a classroom window at the icy ground while Hedwig keeps watch from a branch outside. We see Ron and Harry enjoying the uncrowded common room. We even see the wizarding Christmas crackers when Harry pulls one with Fred (or is it Gred?) and it produces a rear Admiral's hat and live mice. Best of all, we see Harry making use of his father's invisibility cloak while Ron dozes off in front of a roaring fire.

"Sure to be treasured by Harry Potter fans of all ages," this book is a great gift for anyone who loved the magic and merriment of Christmas.