The tales of Beedle the Bard [Hardcover]

J. K. Rowling (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; First Printing edition (2007)
• ASIN: B001ODQ74A
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (669 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,289,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J K (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling was born in the summer of 1965 at Yate General Hospital in England and grew up in Chepstow, Gwent where she went to Wyedean Comprehensive. Jo left Chepstow for Exeter University, where she earned a French and Classics degree, and where her course included one year in Paris. As a postgraduate she moved to London to work at Amnesty International, doing research into human rights abuses in Francophone Africa. She started writing the Harry Potter series during a Manchester to London King's Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel. Jo then moved to northern Portugal, where she taught English as a foreign language. She married in October 1992 and gave birth to her daughter Jessica in 1993. When her marriage ended, she returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, where "Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Ston"e was eventually completed and in 1996 she received an offer of publication. The following summer the world was introduced to Harry Potter."Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997 and was published as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in America by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic in September 1998.The second title in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", was published in July 1998 (June 2, 1999 in America) and was No. 1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts for a month after publication. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was published on 8th July 1999 (September 8, 1999 in America) to worldwide acclaim and massive press attention. The book spent four weeks at No.1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts, while "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" simultaneously topped the paperback charts. In the US the first three Harry Potter books occupied the top three spots on numerous adult bestseller lists.The fourth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was published in Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia 8th July 2000 with a record first print run of 1 million copies for the UK and 3.8 million for the US. It quickly broke all records for the greatest number of books sold on the first weekend of publication. The fifth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," was published in Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia on 21st June 2003. Published in paperback on 10th July 2004, it is the longest in the series - 766 pages - and broke the records set by "Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire" as the fastest selling book in history. The sixth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was published in the UK, US and other English-speaking countries on 16th July 2005 and also achieved record sales.The seventh and final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was published in the UK, US and other English speaking countries on 21st July 2007. The book is the fastest selling book in the UK and USA and sales have contributed to breaking the 375 million copies mark worldwide.J K Rowling has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry's school books within the novels. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through The Ages" were published by Bloomsbury Children's Books and Scholastic in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. The Harry Potter books have sold 400 million copies worldwide. They are distributed in over 200 territories and are translated into 67 languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

209 of 223 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My only complaint: I wanted more, December 5, 2008

By 

A. Writer O. Sorts "A. Reader II" (Oregon, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition (Harry Potter) (Hardcover)

If you love the Harry Potter series, then this is a must-have. It arrived in the mail yesterday, and I devoured it right away. And that's my only complaint: it's brevity. It's a short, quick read. But a fun one.
And it's not simply a handful of fairy tales from the wizarding world. The commentary by Albus Dumbledore on each story was a really nice touch, in some cases even more entertaining to me than the stories themselves.
If you were expecting a thick book that would absorb you for hours as the Harry Potter series did, I hope you're not disappointed in this book's brevity. It's still worth the price if you enjoy the series, and it supports a charitable cause.
If you've never read the Harry Potter books (or seen the movies, I suppose) then do NOT consider this a sample of the series. You will not glean any sense of the depth, quality and, as everyone else calls it, the magic of the Harry Potter world. This book is a tasty dessert to those who've feasted on the seven-course series.

86 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, December 4, 2008

By 

Brett Daniels (Portland, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition (Harry Potter) (Hardcover)

The book was decent, in a cutesy kind of way. It is a very quick read -- somewhere around 100 pages. Being in my twenties, I think I was probably a little older than the intended audience. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Harry Potter series, but with one caveat: Don't get your hopes up too high. It's good and provides some insight into "The Deathly Hallows," but it's no Harry Potter.

324 of 419 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Send the money TO the charity instead, December 26, 2008

By 

Geoff (Connecticut snob, temporarily on loan to South Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition (Harry Potter) (Hardcover)

Please, let me say that first and foremost, I adore (nay, worship) the Harry Potter stories.

Secondly, I wish to say that I deeply admire, respect (and am quite envious of) J. K. Rowling's skill, her achievements, and the long and heroic struggle she has triumphed over to get where she is today.

Thirdly, I am so very happy that Ms. Rowling has chosen to put her fame and fortune to work helping children. I have -always- said that children are the -most- vulnerable, as they have little voice, or rights of their own to protect them.

Now, having said this, and with the understanding that the "Tales of Beedle the Bard" was a plot device used in HP7, And Never Intended To Be A Book In and Of Itself...


This book really stinks.


Flip through the reviews. First eliminate those of the rabid fans who would worship Ms. Rowling's grocery list, if it were made available for purchase. Next, ignore the "Was This review helpful" rankings, as the first group mentioned probably went though and clicked "No" on any review less than 4 stars.

O.K., now look at those 3-stars & under reviews. They've said it all:
This thing is -really- short, and the words spread out to try and "pad" it (I read it in 20 minutes); The stories might be entertaining if read to a pre-schooler, but not to anyone older; and most sadly, the stories AND commentary contain none of Ms. Rowling's great skill, nor do the parts attributed to the character Dumbledore sound even remotely like how I perceive he would have written them (Little humor, no "spark").

Some negative reviews I chose to discount involve either criticisms of it being "Dark" or "Scary", and "Inappropriate for young children" (reviews written without taking into consideration how dark -most- fairy-tales are, and the fact that kids today are far too wise (on average) to be frightened by this book), or complaints of rushing something out in the name of capitalism.

Point is, the book sales go to a very worthy charity, AND this book was only intended as a "cute" gift Ms. Rowling made for 6 of her friends, with the 7th being auctioned off for charity.

And on THAT note, I wish to recommend that instead of buying this not-very-good-at-all book, you should look into making a donation directly TO the charity that the "Net Proceeds" would have gone to, namely: The Children's High Level Group, which you can find using any good internet search engine. This way 100% of the $12.99 goes to a worthy cause.