The Tales of Beedle the Bard
By J.K. Rowling

At long last, fans of Rowling’s Harry Potter series, who aren’t extravagantly rich, are able to not only read, but also get their very own copy of the book of wizarding fairy tales that was willed to Hermione in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The book contains five short wizarding fairy tales that all have a lesson and moral to the story. The introduction is “penned” by J.K. Rowling and explains how this copy came into the hands of muggles. Following every tale is commentary that was written by Albus Dumbledore before his untimely demise. One can choose to believe that the commentary was written before Dumbledore knew the truth of the Deathly Hallows, or that he chose to refrain from revealing the truth of them.

Fans who have not yet had a chance to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows do not have to worry greatly about spoilers in this book. Aside from some very minor details and hints dropped in the introduction, which you can easily skip, there are no real spoilers in the book that would ruin the 7th book for readers. Even with the presence of the last, and most important of Beedle Bard’s tales “The Three Brothers”.

The five tales contained in this collection each carry a message and, in a similar fashion to the Grimm fairy tales, do not worry so much about making the tales completely and utterly rated G. That is not to say that the tales are all gruesome and horrid things, merely that they are, in a sense, real to the readers. Rowling even takes the chance to poke gentle fun at the various writers and translators in real life who have gone to painstaking lengths to censor and doctor up the fairy tales we all know today. In the Dumbledore’s commentary following the first tale, “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”, Dumbledore mentions a witch by the name of Beatrix Bloxam who rewrote a variety of old stories (including some of Bard’s) in a book of her own. The sugary-sweet drivel that Dumbledore quotes will give your gag-reflex a workout.

My favorite tale in the collection is, without a doubt, “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump”. In this tale a muggle king, out of fear of the unknown, issues that all witches and wizards be hunted and he alone be the sole magic user. He then employs a “wizard” to teach him. Unfortunately for him, the wizard is a charlatan. To save his own neck, the charlatan bullies a real witch into aiding him before turning on her. Babbity, in the end, manages to not only convince the king to stop hunting wizards and witches, she also forces the charlatan to confess to his misdeeds, and she does so by using their own flaws against them. Pettiness, spite, and ignorance become their downfall.

Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard is, without a doubt, a quick but enjoyable read that will allow all Harry Potter fans to gain a new insight into the “Wizarding World” while at the same time revisiting the old. Rowling expertly writes each tale with her usual flare, and that spark that was missing for the most part in HP: DH, is certainly back. Accompanying each fairy tales are illustrations drawn by Rowling herself, and while not the work of an artist extraordinaire, are certainly not poorly crafted stick figures either. Not to mention the fact that many a reader will, without a doubt, find great amusement in some of the more witty and bitting commentary that Dumbledore provides. His remarks regarding Lucius Malfoy’s request of a certain tale to be removed from Hogwarts’ shelves alone will have readers chuckling.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

Pst! Click here to find out how you can Win a Free Copy of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Salutations and thank you for visiting The Symposium. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or sign up to receive email notifications of new posts.