The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard J.K. Rowling 111 pp.

J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a neat little children’s book written to accompany the larger Harry Potter series. While it is easy to focus on this book as simply an add-on to the series, an hour-long read to give the Harry Potter fan a last taste of the world they loved so much, there is much more here. Despite its appearance as a simple addition to the series, it is clear that Rowling was actively engaged in producing more stories in the world she has so lovingly created for her readers.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard collects five fairy tales, purportedly told by wizards to wizards. Much like Quidditch through the Ages, it gives an account of the values instilled in wizards from a young age. Dumbledore’s commentary on the text draws out these values, placing these stories not only in their context in the wizarding world, but giving us a sense of how people have read and responded to these stories throughout wizarding history.

These stories are each intriguing in their own way, though the theme of an over-reliance on magic is developed strongly through the entire book. In The Tale of the Three Brothers, the brash approach of using magic to artificially extend one’s life quickly brings demise to two eldest brothers, the very emblems of hubris. The Fountain of Fair Fortune portrays this moral somewhat more neatly, the four protagonists seek a magical fountain which will remedy all their problems, easing them into the neat life. In the end, however, the magic was inside them all along, and their own mundane actions with each other solved their problems.

Rowling’s writing comes back again in force, treating the fan of the series to another installment of magical adventure and wonder. To say nothing of the book’s own value, in the same vein as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, Rowling uses her tremendous popularity and devoted fanbase to generate a large sum of money for charity, with much of the proceeds from the publication of this book going to support children in the United Kingdom. Good feelings aside, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is an enjoyable slim volume of light reading.

Would I recommend The Tales of Beedle the Bard? Yes

Score: 3.7/5

Would I keep this on my bookshelf? Yes.

-Mr. Cheddar