Review: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Title: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Author: J.K. Rowling, translated from the anciet runes by Hermione Granger; commentary by Albus Dumbledore
Pages: 110
Rating: 4 out of 5 Bookmarks

This lovely, lovely little book was just the break I needed from Gone with the Wind and This Side of Paradise. I sat and literally absorbed this book in less than a few hours. It’s the collected tales of Beedle the Bard, and there are five tales in all: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”, “The Fountain of Fair Fortune”, “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart”, “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump”, “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. My favorite of the tales was “The Fountain of Fair Fortune” in which three witches, in an effort to reach a magical fountain that will cure them of all their ills, soon discover that the effort to reach the fountain is what makes them better. All of the stories are shorter, and if there was one thing that I’d have to say negatively about the book (and the reason it lost a bookmark!) was that I wished there had been more to the book! I thoroughly enjoyed the commentary by Albus Dumbledore and the introduction, written by Rowling, made numerous mentions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, asides that I found quite humerous as an avid reader of Harry Potter. The book is perfect for all those who want just a little bit of side reading, as the stories themselves were the perfect length to be fit in during a commercial break, a long stoplight, or even as a breather amongst heavier reading! Of course “The Tale of the Three Brothers” was told, almost in its entirety, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so for an even greater, in-depth analysis of this lovely children’s story, perhaps checking out the last Harry Potter book would be a better idea.

In other news, I finally got through the absolutely HUGE blogroll that was awaiting me when I got home from my trip, and I did the best to comment where I could, in addition to adding numerous new blogs that I couldn’t help but fall in love with! Tomorrow sees my return to campus, and Thursday the start of classes, so I’m off to squeeze in as much reading time as possible before the time-suck that is a dual-degree program takes over my life once again. Happy reading!