Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Mini Review: Tales of Beedle the Bard

Today's mini review is of a mini book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling.

Of course, this book is a part of the Harry Potter universe. Beedle the Bard is a writer/recorder of wizard fairytales. This book contains five of his stories along with Dumbledore's commentary on them.

Each of the stories is short. With the commentary, they are about 20 pages each.

But that doesn't mean they aren't fun. The touch of whimsy and magic that fairytales need are present. And magic isn't always a bad thing here (not that it is in all our fairytales either. Just as Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.)

The third tale is rather dark and gruesome, which might not make it appropriate for younger kids. Then again, the original versions of some of our tales are rather gruesome, too.

Finally, the last story in the book is "The Tale of the Three Brothers" which played an important part in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So, really, we are only getting four original stories.

But you know what? The book is fun. And really, that's all that matters. I read it no problem in a couple hours.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

i was looking forward to this review... im probably going to check it out for a read thanks to your review...

Mark Baker said...

Let me know if you want to borrow it.