Here is the thread to discuss what you thought of JKR's newest release, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard"! What did everyone think of it? Did it contain anything that surprised you? Did it give you any insight into any of your favorite HP characters? Which tale was your favorite and why?

Discuss away!

Wow! It was amazing! I LOVED Dumbledore's notes, especially when he was telling us about the pantomine at Hogwarts, that was really funny! My favourite tale was... oh I loved them all!!

Definitely worthwhile buying to complete your HP set!

A really enjoyable and thought provocking bunch of stories. My favourite tales where "The fountain of fair fortune & (of course) The tale of three brothers." Dumbledores notes where very humorous espically when describing childrens reactions to Bloxams "watered down" version of The wizard and the hopping pot. Also nicely touched a few familair elements to us such as a bit about the Malfoys, Mcgongall etc. Short but well worth release heres hoping we get something else like this. And wow J.K's a good drawer isn't she!?

Oh and Hogwarts pnatomine disastor notes was hillarious and must be shown as a spoof or something surely?

I, naturally, LOVE this book. I've always be a bit of a skeptic toward the disney princess stories and JKR nails my points on the head with her Introduction.

I thoroughly enjoyed the commentary by Albus Dumbledore and I feel it added to the book in a way that couldn't be achieved otherwise.

However, I have one problem with the book. In the commentary there was a note that the International Statute of Secrecy was implemented in 1689 but I remember from Quidditch through the Ages that it was signed in 1692. I've researched it and most internet definitions have the date 1692. I believe there was something about the Statute in GoF as well, along with the date.

My favorite Tale was the Fountain of Fair Fortune. I like that there is the three witches and non-magical knight (they aren't prejudiced against muggles). I also like that each witch gives up the fountain because they recognize their own strengths to solve their problems. I deeply enjoyed the fact that the fountain had no magical properties at all, it goes to show that magic isn't needed for great things- only mindset!

After a long wait outside the store I get the book in my hands. I'm not really surprised or shocked that it is a mere 100 pages (105 to be precise) one, as we already knew it contained five short fairy tales.

The cover illustration and the various pictures are simply superb!

The book starts with a nice intro about why she wrote this and a funny description of Beedle. Also, the mention of Dumbledore's notes at the end of each chapter added to my excitement to read it more! The ending of the intro sure gave me goosebumps as I read the lines:

It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution

The first story "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" is like any other muggle fairy tale. Anybody can guess what's going to happen in that. However, the notes of DD at the end are really worth reading as they give us an insight into wizard-muggle relations.

The second tale "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" was my favourite, not in terms of its magical content (there was not any) but in terms of what it taught. It is again, predictable, yet it has a certain captivating style of its, which will (I hope) fascinate the reader. It is anybody's guess that the fountain does not contain anything magical in it. The magic is in yourself! That's the realization we need to achieve and there lies our remedies.
Of particular mention here is DD's notes at the end, which really cracked me up! The fiasco which occurred at Hogwarts at the pantomime was hilarious! I really don't wanna spoil your suspense here guys! Just read that one!

The third tale "The Warlock's Hairy Heart", was the darkest of all! It dealt with dark arts and invulnerability, which humans seek. Again, this one gave me the goose flesh! The fact that Mrs. Bloxam did not write it in The Toadstool Tales (her fairy tales for children, which were generally anti-muggle) shows how ghastly effect it has on people. In terms of the magical content, this was my favourite!

The fourth "Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump", was another one awaited. This was just about OK. However, it was informative about the animagus aspect. Having said that, I wont deny my disappointment after reading this story. :|

Finally, "The Tale of The Three Brothers". We had already read this in the Deathly Hallows. It is the one which is the most magical in the book. Why is it so? Was it just because of DD's fascination for it? Or is there some other reason?
The reason I think we find it fascinating is that, it has more magic in it. It reminds us of Harry Potter series (which is why we took this book). The content is varied. It talks of wandlore, of death, and of immortality upon the possession of the three objects- The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak.
Here again DD's notes are a fascinating read. Especially the superstitions part:

When his wand's oak and hers is holly,
Then to marry would be folly

This one really cracked me up! []

The history of the Elder Wand's passage was worth a read, as it definitely increases our knowledge of the wizarding world, and bears proof of how beatable the Wand is! (which should stop doubts of how DD defeated Grindelwald!)

All in all, a good read (not more than 30 min required!) If one would ask me whether to buy the book or not, I'd suggest 'yeah!' coz it is worth our HP collection! (barring a few disappointments)

OWL Grades

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~yours in fellowship
WGP

This is a wonderful (and short) book for us to read and enjoy as we patiently wait for the next movie(s) and encyclopedia come out!!!

I especially enjoyed the notes put in there by Dumbledore. I have read all the stories through Amazon when they first bought the book at the auction and posted them online. I enjoy the simple yet important message that each story gives us. Definitely worth a read for any Harry Potter fan!!!

I really liked "the tales of beedle the bard". I ordered my english version on amazon when I first heard about it being released and I'm expecting at least 20 copies of the norwegian version for christmas

All of the stories were great, but as many of you have said, predictable. But which fairytale isn't? "Fountain of fair fortune" and "The warlock's heary heart" were my favourites. "The warlock's heary heart" may have been a bit brutal, but it still had a moral that I enjoyed, and that was that: It is better to have loved and failed, but to never have loved at all(or somenthing like that). "Babbitty Rabbitty and her cackling stump" was the fairytale with the most genius name I have ever heard! I even laughed at the title! And then the finale: "The Tale of The Three Brothers". I may have read it before, but of some strange reason I thought it was better in book itself

Dumbledore's notes were hilarious. With the stories about Mrs. Bloxam and members of the Malfoy-family trying to prevent kids from learning that muggles were cool( ).

I got "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" for Christmas! It is very good.
My favorite story is The Fountain of Fair Fortune. I love the part when each of the witches realized how better off they were and gave the opportunity to the knight.
The one story that did freak me out the most was "The Warlock's Hairy Heart". I didn't like the ending so much, but I do understand it. It made me sad that there wasn't any hope for his heart, that it was too late.
And I didn't know JKR was such a good artist! I like her illustrations. They're aren't better or worse than Grand Pré's are, but they are just as beautiful in their own way.

i loved tales of beedle the bard!
the storys were like going back to being younger again
i used to have an enid blighton book full of those sorts of tales!
the dumbledores notes made it for me though t just linked it all back to harry potter
i also cried on the tale of the three brothers notes where at the end he admits 'clever as i am, i remain just as big a fool as anyone else.'
ill be honest i cried at that reminder of his fate.

I LOVED The Tales of Beedle The Bard! My favourite stories was 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' and 'The Three Brothers'. I have the book from Amazon, and the fake textbook which holds the book which contains the stories is absolutely amazing and beautiful.

This book is a very good one. It adds on to the HP series; plus, the fairy tales are funny. My favorite would have to be The Fountain of Fair Fourtune . It had a very good moral, especially for wizards because magic doesn't solve everything. It has a excellent moral for anyone just because it teaches us to find out inner strengths.

The Tale of Three Brothers we have already read. I liked it anyway because it's really interesting what the 3 brothers chose. My favorite parts were Dumbeldores notes in between. Some of them were really funny. My favorite would have to pgs 39-42 where Dumbeldore talks about Lucius' letter to him and the Dumbeldore's letter back. CLASSIC! I like the footnote on page 42, about Lucius' continuing letters to have Dumbeldore removed. It was really good.

ahh I really need to read this! I decided to go all the way and buy the collectors edition, but have only so far read the first story, sounds like I need to carry on reading!
Did anybody else buy the collectors edition? Its amazing!

Clara}~

clara morgue, I wanted to buy the collecters edition, because I got the original for Christmas but still wanted that edition. So, I looked online on Amazon, and it was $400! That was like the cheapest I could find. Where did you get yours and for how much?

Anyway, you should still read the rest. I'm rereading it again (for the 3rd time =]) until I get some more of the books, because it's really good. Well, that's what I think.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was fantastic!

I got it for Christmas from my Grandmother - it's our thing. She bought me my first Harry Potter book back in second grade, and ever since then bought me all of them when the come out, so Beedle was no exception to this. My six year old sister loves Harry Potter (well, the movies since the books are a stretch for a six year old to read) and she loves when I read to her. So when I got Tales of Beedle the Bard, even she was excited! I've read her the stories, and she loved them as much as I did.

I love how JKR put tid-bits of Dumbledore in the stories - his little commentary to let us Muggles know what some of the references mean! It was nice to see that little piece of Dumbledore again, it was kind of sad. It was such a cute, fantastic book. It's on my stand of Harry Potter stuff in my room, all standing tall and proud in the front.

Such a great book, and whoever hasn't finished the stories definitely should - it's worth it.

Yeah, I agree with HarryPotterIsLife. Of course us HP fanatics are going to enjoy the book because it has more meaning to us. But my little sister is 7 and I read her just the stories and she still enjoyed it. I would recommend the stories to little ones who can't fully read the HP series, and to anyone in general , but they're stories that can keep the attention span. I didn't read Dumbeldore's notes to her because I'm sure she wouldn't quite understand them as well as we would, but still. I'll say it again, but I still love this book.

mugglelovrspew, I also got it on Amazon, but I preordered it and it cost me £50.. which is about $100 (or was at the time). I'm sure you can get it for less than $400!! Unless somehow they've all been bought and thats somebody else selling it on? Keep looking around!

I'll read a bit more, but I might buy the original so that I can read it without worrying that I'm going to break it!

Clara}~

I loved it! It was short, but sweet, and the stories were really well done. Dumbledore's notes were funny but thorough. Some of them sounded like fairy tales I had already heard, and the Wizard and his Hairy Heart reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe's "Telltale Heart". It was creepily good in that way. It was nice to read tha tale of Two Brothers without interuptions and the Cackling Stump made me laugh. I really enjoyed it, and it was nice to have another book to read now the series is over.

I also got Beedle the Bard for Christmas and really enjoyed something new to read from the Potter series. I tend to reread the books and after reading The Bard, I found Lucius Malfoy comical in CoS! Apparently his quest to remove DD from Hogwarts had been longlived and it was just funny to see snipets of that while reading the book.

My favorite fairytale was The Warlock's Hairy Heart. I know it was a bit brutal but really when you fear some aspect of live and depend on magic to protect you, something is bound to go wrong. I just found it very realistic in a metaphoric way because while one cannot physically remove the heart organ from one's body and contain it, people do emotionally remove "love" from their lives by being distant and nonchalant. They become selfish and calloused and keep others at arms length, never letting anyone know who they really are all in the name of fear. Fear of being hurt or dumped. Fear of being made a fool of. Fear of being swindled out of money or position and possessions. Unfortunately if there is ever some point in life when a person may have feelings of love toward another, depending upon how long they have been in "love isolation", relating to another human being at that point may be painful and harmful, perhaps not to the extreme of murder but then again there are pychopathic obssessive murderers in this world who do that sort of thing.

Many of you mentioned the predictability of the book. I agree while it was totally predictable, I enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to read something without worrying about a plot twist and just enjoy it as a piece of literature. Incidently, my 3 year old loves the story about the Fountain.

As many of you, I got the Tales of Beedle the Bard for Christmas as well. The night after I couldn't fall asleep and I decided to read a single story. But I just couldn't stop reading. It totally fascinated me. I've always enjoyed the folk tales by the Brother Grimm, especially when they are analysed. The way they are able to describe the human nature in an apparently innocent way is by my opinion genius. I believe that the Tales of Beedle the Bard posses the same.

I must say that my favourite tale was The Warlocks Hairy Heart. Both for many of the reasons you mentioned nevillesgirl, but also because I think it is a very relevant story in the world of today with a great moral. That we shouldn't be afraid to try love, we shouldn't be afraid of love. I think that is a important message.

But all the stories are great, at least I think so. I really enjoyed it, though some people might say that as 18 I might be to old for them. I say you are never to old for a great story

Nevillesgirl, I'm glad you brought up your three year old. I've been deadset now that I will read the Harry Potter books to my children since before I even wanted children! Now that I am a bit older and my life's pace is quickening, I am rather excited to have the opportunity to read Beedle the Bard a few years down the road! I wish someone had read me Beedle the Bard!

I, too, enjoyed the Fountain story the most. I like that they recognized their strengths in the end- and the Fountain wasn't even magical! Brilliant! Predictable, but brilliant!

It was the most amazing story, how I came by my copy of Beedle and the circumstances made it all the more magical for me.
I thought I would have to wait months if not at least a year to read it since I am abroad. We got the first snow of the winter about two days after the book was released. I went for a walk since I love the snow and just happened to get myself lost in a forest in waist deep snow. By the time I got back to the town I was aching but absolutely full of joy at the indescribable beauty I had seen in the nature.
I passed a bookshop and remembered that Beedle had been released so I went in to see if it had been released here and lo and behold the were selling it in english no less along with copies of all the other books in english! I couldnt believe my luck and as I lay recovering from my snow treck in my nice cosy bed watching the snow get thicker I read Beedle and it just summed up everything I had experienced that day.

Sorry to be long winded...

My favourite story was Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump closely followed by The Fountain of Fair Fortune.
The morals were quite lovely but what surprised me the most were the notes by Dumbledore. I really loved the anecdote about the pantomime but I really laughed at the bit where Dumbledore says he has tried to have Lucius Malfoy removed as Voldemort's favourite death eater.

Wow, this feels strange...so many years posting on this forum and now I've forgotten which buttons I need to click...

Anywho, just thought I'd drop by to say how pleasantly surprised I was to find myself very much liking this book! I wasn't expecting to - in fact, I refused to buy it on the grounds that I felt JKR's already swindled more money out of me than I care to think about, but when a friend of mine offered to lend me his copy, I thought well...why not? He didn't think much of it, sadly. He thought that Dumbledore sounded very arrogant in his notes, and though I pointed out to him that Dumbledore was not without his flaws and I believe he did, at one point, admit as much, my mate wasn't convinced. He didn't think much of the stories either, so my expectations weren't high.

But, as I said - very pleasantly surprised. I especially loved The Fountain of Fair Fortune. Yes, it had kind of a Wizard of Oz kind of thing going on, but all the same, I thought it was very well done.

I've since bought a copy of my own now, so I guess that even the most stubbornly anti-JKR of us can be wrong sometimes

wow Louise, why are you anti-JK? That's something I never thought I would hear on here
I used to be pretty anti-JK and Potter but, well she got the best of me But I see what you mean... being a Harry Potter can be expensive. My family should know haha.

Ooh, it's a long, long story... Let's just say that it has to do with an old shipper argument, an interview JKR gave to Mugglenet, and her political views.

I guess it's just as well that I'm able to put aside my personal dislike for the woman to be able to appreciate her writing. Well...some of it, anyway

Ah fair enough^^ There's quite a few celebrities I don't like after meeting them in real life and they were really stuck up but I can still appraciate some - well a very tiny proportion of their work so I see where you are coming from. It's kind of hard for me to dislike Rowling. She created the world that provided an escape for me in some of the worst times of my life since I discovered her books and she lives in my home city^^

On the subject of Beedle, how did everyone find Dumbledore's commentary?
I really loved it, any link back to Harry's days or Hogwarts is a welcome read for me.

Dumbledores commentary was some of the best in the book by my opinion. I thought them funny and brilliant, gave the stories perspective and made the book profound. You probably could say that they are a little arrogant, but I just can't help but loving Dumbledore and his commentary

Lulu-lolo, I agree, I really loved the Dumbledore commentary. It was lovely to have this link back to Harry and Hogwarts and also it was great to hear explanations for some things such as why Lucius and Dumbledore fell out so spectacularly.

I just saw the book for the first time today when my family and I went to Borders at the mall. I was waiting on my sister to finish getting her books and I decided to pick it up and read some of it. I didn't get to read the whole thing, but more than half. I thought it was cute. I like how Dumbledore had the commentary too. It was funny. Sometime I'll have to get it from the library and read the whole thing.

Nasuada I recommend you finishing it sometime. It's really good because it gives you a bit of background knowledge of Hogwarts and other things but also into the wizarding world and their values and traditions.

harryjpotter, yeah, I had been debating on buying it, but I couldn't spend the money on it at the time. There's a waiting list at the library so it might be a while before I get a chance to finish it. I just thought it was so cool that they were 'wizard fairy tales' like JK said in her introduction. I started picturing Mrs. Weasley telling Ron and Ginny the stories when she put them to bed when they were little. Haha.

P.S. You may call me Chelsea or Chels if you'd like.

Cool Chels, well I hope you get to read it soon^^ I had that image too, of Mrs Weasley tucking the children into bed for the night and reading from a somewhat tatty copy of Beedle which would probably be second hand.

harryjpotter, that is so cool that we had the same image! I can just see a book that's all faded and some of the pages had been ripped and mended. JK probably intended it that way. And thanks for calling me 'Chels'. I like it a lot better than 'Nasuada'.

Chels, I agree, it is probably what Jo intended. Even if it wasn't it does still fit the picture of the Weasleys.
I would be interested if they brought out an edition like the one in ancient runes that Hermione had.

Oh, one in Ancient Runes would be so cool! It would be interesting too. I think that JKR adding Dumbeldore commentary to it added the quality for us older readers. They're children's stories, and I still love them anyway because, well I love the wizarding world. But, adding Dumbeldore's words about the stories just made it great. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next. Hopefully she will.

I really think the sotries from Beedle should be made into an animated film. Either that or let the Europeans make a film of it, there are so many wonderful film versions of every fairytale imaginable most particularly made by the Germans, the Russians, the Poles, the Czecs. I would really love to see these stories on screen. Anyone agree?

I got Beedle for Christmas, but the simple edition; I really hope that, if someday I've got my own money to spare, I could buy the collector's edition as well as different editions of the books.
I wanted to read it at once, but as I always do, tried to restrain myself and read it slower It was wonderful; it wasn't like if we were having an 8th book, just another HP book; it was a complement, a brilliant piece that took me to the wizarding world. I completely could imagine Dumbledore, bent over his desk at twilight, scribbling the notes over a mug of hot chocolate while remembering old memories and wiping a tear, or chuckling at times.
I think it was wonderful; for me it was like the old British stories about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, but the wizarding versions of them; even the drawings seemed so magical, so ancient; it really touched me
And I loved that mock of Beatrix Potter Oh my, I got Petter Rabbit when I went to English lessons, in first year, and it was so riddiculous that not even now I've read it fully. Awesome! I'm sure JK didn't mean to offend ( ), but geez.
Oh, and how to forget about Grumble the Grubby Goat!!!!!!! Good grief, how much laughter! My sister couldn't stop throwing sceptical glances at me

I find Dumbeldore's commentary very interesting on the topic of the stories. I feel it gives us the much needed insight (well, for me at least) that we usually had in the books to have in another one. My favorite still has to be about Lucius. But it definitely does interest and help me appreciate the stories just a tad more to know they're still a connection back to good, old Dumbeldore.

I loved this book. (It is really no suprise because she is an amazing writer) It really showed that there is a wizarding world and not just a community. I mean I never really thought about wizards having fairy tales. I don't know why. I absolutaly loved all of the stories and Dumbledor's notes.

Oh poo! I haven't read it yet. I have to go to the store tomorrow and buy a copy. Its getting late. I am going to catch a cup of tea and enjoy my show thats about to air. Toodles...