The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J. K. Rowling, is an incarnation of a book by the same title that appears in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the seventh and last book of the Harry Potter series. In The Deathly Hallows, Hermione receives Dumbledore's copy of the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It has been left to her in Dumbledore's will because he knows she will read the tales and convey important information to Harry. We hear the story of "The Tale of the Three Brothers" that gives us the origin of the three powerful "Hallows," about which Dumbledore wants to warn Harry — because Voldemort is seeking them, particularly the powerful Elder Wand (which was Dumbledore's wand until Severus Snape killed him). This new version of the book is presented to us a "translation from the ancient runes by Hermione Granger." Written by J. K. Rowling for charitable purposes, it contains "The Tale of the Three Brothers" and four others; it also contains notes and illustrations by Rowling and commentary by Albus Dumbledore on each tale.

I highly recommend this book. The tales are easy to read for the intended audience: nine- to twelve-year-old (and older) readers. Note, however, that the commentary following each tale is aimed at an older audience. The explanations by Dumbledore get a bit involved or off-track at times and if the younger reader has not finished the series, some of the commentary may not make much sense. Still, the notes are filled with Dumbledore's unique humor and self-awareness, and are also full of "messages" (themes) to be conveyed. Parents of the youngest readers might consider reading the tales aloud, and saving the commentary for when the children can easily read the book themselves and be more apt to absorb the subtleties of these passages.

The first tale, "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," is a delight. My eight-year-old granddaughter loved this tale and so did I. The commentary afterward is a bit more complicated to read, but it does enlighten the reader about the unfortunate history of muggle persecution of magical folk. The pot's unceasing demands on its wizard owner, without ever physically coercing him, is one more indication of Rowling's deep and sensitive creativity and provides some laugh-aloud humor as well.

"The Fountain of Fair Fortune," the second tale, reinforces Rowling's ever present theme of "succeed together or fail separately." At first I was a bit put off by the fact that one of the heroines "cries" out of frustration trying to achieve her goal but, after I read the next two steps in their quest, I acknowledge that a good cry to get rid of frustration is sometimes as necessary, and as cathartic, as hard work or relinquishing memories/emotions which hold you in the past.

The third tale, "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," is the darkest of the five. That it conveys a warning not only about being "heartless" by shunning all types of emotional attachment but also about being naïve enough to think one can change another person set in his or her ways, doesn't alter the fact the violence in the tale may be disconcerting to some younger readers (and their parents). However, real life presents much worse. As Dumbledore states: the Magic and Muggle habit of "toning down" original fairy tales (such as "Little Red Riding Hood," where in the earliest format LRRH dies) may cause much more harm to children because of creating the erroneous belief that one will always be rescued when faced with evil.

Fourth is "Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump." This was for me second in enjoyment to "The Hopping Pot." The cleverness of the elderly witch in thwarting the folly of a Muggle king and the greed of a charlatan wizard was great fun. In addition, we get an explanation from Dumbledore about the differences between an animagus and a self-transfigured creature — something about which I had never thought.

Finally, we reread "The Tale of the Three Brothers." Dumbledore's commentary is enlightening indeed, and foreshadows his own painfully-won knowledge about the effects of power on a person's psyche and his fatally-gained wisdom about not "fooling around" with powerful Deep Magic.