Scan barcode
A review by varlineau
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
4.0
I love the idea that this book was written as a series of wizard children's tales to mirror the ones told/read to muggle children. It makes the world of Harry Potter that much more tangible and rich. The footnotes and afterwords by Albus Dumbledore were an especially nice touch - I often found myself enjoying them more than the fables themselves.
That being said, I'm pretty sure people only read this book for The Tale of Three Brothers since it's so intricately tied to the main Harry Potter series. My personal favorite was The Fountain of Fair Fortune, probably because its moral could be appreciated by both wizard and muggle children alike. That's honestly my biggest issue with the book as a whole - I feel like JKR had an opportunity for these tales to go down with the likes of Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, but they fall short in that they're really written for the wizarding world, rather than the real one we all live in.
In any case, this was a fun, quick little read and it certainly made jury duty a lot more bearable. I only wish it could stand on its own as a collection of children's tales, but that's probably a bit too much to ask.
That being said, I'm pretty sure people only read this book for The Tale of Three Brothers since it's so intricately tied to the main Harry Potter series. My personal favorite was The Fountain of Fair Fortune, probably because its moral could be appreciated by both wizard and muggle children alike. That's honestly my biggest issue with the book as a whole - I feel like JKR had an opportunity for these tales to go down with the likes of Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, but they fall short in that they're really written for the wizarding world, rather than the real one we all live in.
In any case, this was a fun, quick little read and it certainly made jury duty a lot more bearable. I only wish it could stand on its own as a collection of children's tales, but that's probably a bit too much to ask.