The Tales of Beedle the Bard (BOOK REVIEW) 4/5

This is such a fun book. I will admit, I’m biased- I’m a huge Harry Potter fan! I’ve read this book before, but what caused me to read it again is that I read it to my girlfriend, who has not finished the series, because I wanted to show her some of the side novels. We have plans to read the whole series together, and it honestly is so much fun to share a series that I love and know like the back of my hand with her- when she’s seeing a lot of it for the first time.

The best part of reading this little book of children’s tales was my enjoyment of seeing a wizarding child’s upbringing. I loved getting that insight into the fictional world of Harry Potter, and seeing the same morals- or lack thereof- in our fairy tales, translated into the magical tales of Beedle the Bard. As a companion novel, this is perhaps my favorite. I didn’t, however, give it a 5. I believe that while it’s clever, there are a few stories that I think were done too simply, that could have been more or expanded upon. It certainly isn’t your average children’s book of stories. While I applauds Rowling for writing these at all, it did come off as merely average, and if it weren’t for my basis as a fan of the series, I wouldn’t have been nearly as excitable. Reading it myself would not have given me the same giddy feeling as reading it to my girlfriend.

My favorite story in the novel is likely the Warlock’s Hairy Heart, which took a much darker and more gruesome tale. It’s something I’ve always loved about Harry Potter- there is a dark undertone to even the most childish things, and it seems to go often unnoticed by the wizard kind how dangerous their world is. My least favorite in the book is likely Babbitty Rabbity- while it is a good story, it held the least amount of interest for me.

Personally, I would recommend this book even to someone who hasn’t read the rest. It has some lovely lessons and it does read like a book of children’s tales, if not a bit quirky.