Words couldn't describe how happy I was when I discovered J.K. Rowling's newest book The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I finally got around to reading it because we have been so busy reading (thanks to Mrs. Clinch, jk) and I absolutely loved it!
Even though Rowling promised not to write another Harry Potter book, this children's book is loosely related to Harry. If you Harry freaks remember, in the last book Hermione comes across this exact book and as a result, J.K. decided to create it. Yes, they are 'wizard bedtime stories' however it is a fun read and they actually give new insight to the world of Harry. A neat thing this book has is that after ever chapter, 'Albus Dumbledore', writes notes and opinions on each tale, kind of like the reviews and analysis we do in lit class. It not only gives you more history into the book, but it also explains certain terms and gives you background to the story.
My favorite tale out of the five is the last one, or "The Tale of the Three Brothers". It is an interesting tale of three bothers who are on a quest when they meet Death. Death grants each one wish. The first wishes for the unstoppable wand, or Elder wand, the second wishes for eternal life, like the sorcerer's stone, and the third, and the wisest, wishes for the invisibility cloak. Overtime, death takes each of the brothers for their own, however the third one delayed his meeting with Death by wearing the invisibility cloak until he was old and gave it to his son. He then met Death gladly and departed his life gladly. Later on in Albus's notes, he explains how the story tells us something about human nature: 'Hope springs eternal' in which there is a side note that reads: 'This quotation demonstrates that Albus Dumbledore was not only exceptionally well-read in Wizarding terms, but also that he was familiar with the writings of Muggle poet Alexander Pope' (JKR 96). This made me chuckle but was also very interesting because we learned about Pope earlier in the semester. I thought maybe this tale was an allusion to something but I could not think of anything. I'm sure most of the tales are some sort of allusion, but I enjoyed the book none the less.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves Harry Potter and enjoys and simple, yet complex read.
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