Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 01/01/2009 In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007), Hermione Granger is left a book from the late Dumbledore’s collection, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of fairy tales young wizards heard growing up. In 2007, Rowling handwrote and illustrated 7 copies of Beedle the Bard, one of which was auctioned off for millions of dollars with the proceeds going to charity. Originally, there was to be no mass publication of the book, but the desire for all things Potter by Harry’s fans could not be denied. And so, readers can now own their own copies of this odd little book of five tales, complete with the commentary of Albus Dumbledore. Of most interest will be “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” whose story directly impacts on Harry’s saga as revealed in the series final volume. But the other quirky tales have their own appeal, especially for dedicated fans. Using familiar fairy-tale elements, such as a magical pot and three brothers on a quest, the stories seem straightforward until Dumbledore’s edifying commentary turns them on their head. Without the usual hoopla surrounding publication of a Rowling novel, this little curiosity will probably attract only Potter fanatics, but it will also be of marginal interest to all those readers who still miss Harry and would like one more shot at the wizarding world. - Copyright 2009 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 03/01/2009 Gr 4 Up— Muggles grow up with Grimm's fairy tales; wizarding children grow up with Tales of Beedle the Bard . The Bard's book is a collection of five tales, bequeathed to Hermione Granger by Professor Dumbledore. The passing of the book into her hands was intended to be both "entertaining and instructive." As in all good mysteries, information contained within its pages provided Hermione with clues essential to helping Harry in the series' last installment. In particular, "The Tale of Three Brothers" describes how three magical items appeared after siblings cleverly cheat death. It is these items that play a pivotal role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Scholastic, 2007). Those hoping to re-create the hours of pleasure spent curled up with a J.K. Rowling book may be disappointed at the brevity of this title, but they will undoubtedly enjoy the tales and Dumbledore's often lengthy, cynical-but-wise commentary on each one.—Robyn Gioia, Bolles School, Ponte Vedra, FL - Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2009 The Tales of Beedle the Bard ?held the secret to the Deathly Hallows in the final book of the Harry Potter series; here the tales are retold in full, translated by Hermione Granger, with commentary from Albus Dumbledore, and introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling. This thorough interpenetration of the fictive and the metafictive is cleanly accomplished: Rowling’s formidable imagination produces stories that have the sleek lines of actual folktales, which are limned with sly humor, folk morality, and a sense of the macabre, and well integrated into the wizarding world that she created in the series proper. Dumbledore’s commentary is precisely what you would expect and wish; in his unmistakably professorial voice-gentle and scholarly with occasional bites of sarcasm and worldly wit-he combines personal associations and memories with history, lore, ideological context, and even a jab at the attempts of certain protective authors who have foolishly tried to sanitize dark stories for the consumption of children. The tales themselves are suitable for reading aloud to early elementary school children not yet ready to tackle the entire series on their own; the commentary would serve as a teachable introduction for older students to the kinds of essays and topics one might take up in writing about stories. Thus this is a text that straddles the lines between the casual reader and the literary critic/historian, between the child just entering the world of Harry Potter and the readers who have grown up with the series and are looking to re-enter the world and begin what promises to be an extended process of filling in gaps and fleshing out complexities. KC - Copyright 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.