This is an absolutely beautiful book. While I myself do not believe in magic, I enjoy reading about it and this book is a lovely introduction for children. There is a distinct sense of Harry Potter-ness here - a lot of the items in the book are essential to Potter plots. That's a positive though, as it's like an additional little dictionary for the magical world. There are a few points I would disagree with (comparing herbalists to doctors, for instance), and there was a weird grammatical structure around the word "cattle" somewhere, but there is nothing offensive in this book. Well, I AM a little offended that so many nations and regions are mentioned, but NEVER Ireland. I feel like that's a large oversight in a book about world magic!

Overall though, a lovely book, and definitely one to broaden the horizons and engage the children that love to read.

This book is a wonderful introduction to the world of magic and the principles behind it. I love that it gives a general overview and history. The illustrations are beautiful and keep you capitative. I know this is meant for children but I would totally buy this book to reference back too. I will enjoy showing this to my daughter as she gets older.

The only reason why I demoted a star is because it is all over the place - I understand the author wants to give a great overview of all magic but at times it seemed choppy or not complete.

First of all, I know this book is for youth.. but honestly I learned things I didn’t know. This subject matter has always intrigued me. This was fun, informative, and incredibly interesting. I will recommend to my students and library. This is the definition of make learning fun!

After being given the stunning book The Natural History of Fairies from the amazing illustrator Jessica Roux, I knew I had to request this book - The Natural History of Magic from NetGalley. It is so wonderful and beautiful and we’ll just absolutely stunning. I read through it but know I am off to buy the book as I know I will dip in and out again and again like I do with my first one. I need this on my bookshelf. I need this in my collection. Just stunning!

For someone like me who's just started reading about magic and such, this illustrated short history is quite the guide.

The cover is really beautiful. But the contents rather surprised me with its concise text with wholesome illustrations.

Before reading this book, I didn't know anything about personalities related to the topic like Baba Yaga or Merlin and the various background culture related to it.

This book provides the basic idea and knowledge that goes back to the very beginning and offers titbits on wizards, witches, juju and more based on their origin.

Such an interesting read. A collectible I would say.

Thank you author, artist and the publisher for the advance reader copy.

This book is an absolute delight! full of information and , ahem, magic that will keep any reader, young or old, enthralled from beginning to end. This would be a great reference for children about the world of magick and witchcraft, or a great, creative refresher for the older, less familiar reader. Jessica Roux's illustrations make for an otherworldly experience. I adored every single page and spent a good amount of time just taking in all the details before reading each page.

#indigoemployee

This was such a lovely experience to read, I loved that it was set out like a guide reminiscent of Spiderwick Chronicles. Coupled with the absolutely gorgeous illustrations packed on every page this would make an absolutely stunning gift.

The illustrations in this were simply gorgeous! If this book had been out when I was a kid, I would have begged my parents to get it for me. I think the language might be a little advanced for some kids, but I think upper elementary school children would be fine, especially with the help of a parent or older sibling. I will say, there are instances where the text is SO small. I'm sure it'll be different in the physical copy, but it made some things nearly impossible to read. Overall, it was very enjoyable and, as a person that has loved magic and mythical things for as long as I can remember, I found a lot of this content was refreshing and new, not the same stuff you read everywhere!