34. The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
A companion to the Harry Potter series

Pages: 109
Finished: Feb. 12, 2009
First Published: Dec. 2008
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5

Reason for Reading: A companion to the original series.

First sentence:

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of stories written for young wizards and witches.

Comments: A very short collection of five short fairy tales that are a part of the Harry Potter universe. They have no connection to Harry Potter except that these tales would have been told to children in his world as the first sentence indicates. The stories are cute, nothing spectacular, but certainly cute and well-worth a read for Potter fans. The best part of the book is that each tale is followed by a Commentary chapter by Professor Dumbledore. These are probably more interesting that the tales themselves. My favourite of the tales was The Warlock's Hairy Heart, probably because it stood apart from the others because it is dark and gruesome while the others are light-hearted.

Overall, a cute little book, nothing terribly special, but certainly a fun read for fans. Younger children will appreciate the fairy tales while older children/teens will be more inclined to appreciate the Dumbledore commentary. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you won't regret the hour or so it takes to read the book.