Skip to main content

J. K. Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard are a short, but delightful collection of fairy tales from J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World. This version also includes characters from Rowling's original Harry Potter series such as Hermione Granger and Albus Dumbledore, who are meant to annotate and commentate on the tales. These tales are mentioned in Harry Potter, and Rowling has now written them out for all to read.

I loved The Tales of Beedle the Bard. This is not a long book in the least but it is absolutely delightful to read if you love(d) Harry Potter. I was also delighted that the audiobook (the version I picked up on Audible) was recorded with Jude Law and Evanna Lynch, who you may recognize from the films (Jude Law plays Albus Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts franchise). At any rate, I loved that this book didn't take "Muggle" fairy tales and reimagine them to fit into Harry Potter, but instead were completely original magical fairy tales. I loved as Albus Dumbledore points out in his commentary, that magic is not always the answer, and that they emphasize lessons that apply to Wizards and Muggles alike.

Overall, I rate this PG and 5 Stars


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Brandon Sanderson: The Lost Metal - Wax & Wayne (Mistborn Era 2) Book 4

 I finally finished Mistborn era 2! I loved this series so much (though I think I love era 1 the most still). This story was an incredible addition to Scadrial's story. In this final installment, we pick up in Elendel at a time of great uncertainty. The outer cities are threatening war, their tentative alliance with the Malwish is falling apart over the Bands of Mourning, and Wax is still in the middle of all of it. Now serving on the senate, Wax is desperately trying to help the Elendel nobles maintain peace while hunting the Set. Unsuccessful thus far at locating his sister, the leader of the Set, Wax is still trying to uncover her plans. Can Wax, Marasi, and Wayne uncover the Set's plans before the invasion of Trell crushes Scadrial? This was a fitting conclusion for Mistborn's second era. I loved the character development we saw in each of the characters: Marasi, Wax, Wayne, and Steris. I love the involvement of some era 1 characters (one who I am not going to spoil), a...

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

 This is a book that I read for the first time around four years ago when I first started teaching. This novel is one that I have loved ever since then. The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak takes place in World War II in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is not quite an orphan, but she is placed in foster care because her mother can't provide for her. Liesel goes to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann, and they completely change Liesel's life. On her way to the Hubermann's, Liesel's younger brother dies on the train. In the graveyard where he was buried is where Liesel steals her first book: The Grave Digger's Handbook. Hans teaches her to read it, and inspires her love of the written word. The Hubermann's will then hide a Jew in their basement for a time. What will become of that hidden Jew? What will become of Liesel? What will become of Himmel Street, her friends, and her family in the wake of a violent and terrible war? This book is probably one of my all-time favorite...

Brene Brown: Daring Greatly

Brene Brown is one of my favorite TED speakers of all time. I have listened to her TED talks numerous times and used them in my classroom each year. I love her message: that we can't have success, innovation, change, and creativity without first having vulnerability. I love that she is seeking to demystify vulnerability and teach what shame is and how it destroys our ability to accept ourselves and others. I am not normally into the self-help kind of books, but of the books I've read this year, this is one of my favorites! Daring Greatly  by Brene Brown discusses the concepts of shame and vulnerability and how we need vulnerability, but not shame. She gives strategies for combating shame and becoming "shame resilient." She gives strategies to use as parents, teachers, friends, and spouses. For one thing, I love Dr. Brown's Texan accent (she narrates the audiobook herself! 💗). Her voice and personality are all throughout this book. She is not afraid to use persona...