The Tales of Beedle the Bard early reviews

December 4, 2:12 PMBook ExaminerMichelle Kerns

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Like all of my fellow Potter heads, I'll be reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard during every spare moment for the next few days. If you're interested in reading and yaking about it together, I'll be posting commentary, thoughts, and reactions for each chapter as I finish it (a Beedle the Bard in media res if you will); if you'd like to read along and/or air your own thoughts, for good or ill, subcribe to get the commentary sent to you by email.

Of course book reviewers who breathe the rarefied air of the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, and the Associated Press have already devoured their copies. Here is the early reaction of some.

According to the Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela, 

If anything, the new book shows us Rowling hasn't lost her touch since finishing her series. It's all here — cleverly written stories, little details that add to the enjoyment of readers who spot them, deeper points about the choices people make and their consequences. The yarns are ostensibly meant to be read by wizard children, so they're short, but they don't lack for action, or in some cases, rather gruesome imagery and some violence. Apparently wizard children are a hardy bunch.

The Daily Mail reviewer Melanie McDonagh says:

The Tales Of Beedle The Bard will come as a disappointment to Harry Potter fans in one obvious respect.
 

It's small, light, and in contrast to Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, which weighed in at 605 pages, can be devoured at a single sitting.

Devotees still in collective mourning because there are no more Harry Potter books will find this a short-lived fix.
 

The appeal of the book is that it is a fragment from the world of Hogwarts which Harry Potter enthusiasts are desperate to re-enter.
 

As an addition to the Harry Potter canon, the Tales are a kind of footnote to the main stories.
 

 Here is The Telegraph's response:

Those who know their Harry Potter will turn straight to the notes of the final tale, "The Tale of the Three Brothers". Dumbledore mentions that the legend of three brothers who cheated Death and were rewarded with an unbeatable wand, a stone that brings the dead to life and an Invisibility Cloak, might have an element of truth in it. At this point all Potter fans will be shouting out loudly in response. (Note for parents: these tales hint at the ending of the Potter books, but don't actually give it away.)

This short collection would be unremarkable were it not for the body of work that lies behind it. There is an element of padding to make it a respectable length and it will barely satisfy the Potter fanatics for more than half-an-hour. Still there are some nice touches and all profits go to charity, which fits with the generous impulse of the stories.

Pining for something else Harry Potter-ish to read? Take a look at the 10 best books for treating Harry Potter withdrawal.

And for all of you JK Rowling fans out there: Watch JK Rowling: A Year in the Life, an incredibly personal documentary about every Potter head's favorite author.