Customer Reviews

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition

5 star:		(160)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Today I received the collector's edition of Harry Potter and the tales of beedle the bard. I also received the standard edition.

I opened the standard edition first and I thought it was very nice; beautifully illustrated, well bound together...

Then *deep breath* I opened the Collector's edition. I was overwhelmed by the size first; it was about a foot in height, but this only added to my excitement.

The "outer book" is leather and imprinted with "The Tales of Beedle the bard" and J.K Rowling's signature. There are little pictures of a skull, a treetrunk, a heart and a pot along with other little designs imprinted on the leather. And of course, these are imprinted with outstanding, breathtaking quality.
On the spine of the book, the words and the little sketch of a wand are eye-catching in a glimmering, gold font.
The outer book has that beautiful, authentic look of one of the books that you would find in the Hogwarts library as clearly shown in any of the Harry Potter films.

Upon opening the book, there is navy-blue velvet lining that adds sheer luxary to the amazing product.
There is a slipcase and in it a gold envelope that holds astounding work of art - the 10 framable prints of J.K's wonderful illustrations - and yes it's true - she IS quite the artist! The illustrations capture the fairytales and add more clarity and depth to the story; the tales just wouldn't be complete without them.

The book itself is encased in a beautiul deep red velvet bag. This is embroided with J.K's signature in a gold thread.

...And the book? What can I say but ... wow.
The cover is made of brown leather and yes, it is astonishing quality.
There are four metal corners, each with a blue gemstone. In the centre there is a metal skull, with two blue gemstones for eyes. There is a magnetic clasp set with a gemstone also. They say you shouldn't judge a book by a cover but the cover really is stunning; you will not be able to draw away your eyes.

The handwritten introduction to the book is such an authentic and realistic reproduction, I thought it was real; that J.K Rowling herself had scrawled the words across the pages. You will devour every word of the introduction, hungry for more..

The pages the fairytales are printed on are thick and high quality. The standard edition paper and print just cannot compare to the the high quality paper and the astounding print of the CE. It is an absolute pleasure to read.

As for the tales themselves... well I'll let you find out for yourself, but they are so original and wonderfully written I fell instantly in love with them. After reading thoroughly the 7 harry potter books I was glad for something new related with harry potter. Dumbledore comments on each of the stories, I found this very helpful as I got a better insight on each. Dumbledore's comments on the tale of the three brothers will ultimately help you understand the deathly hallows themselves.

As a fifteen year old major harry potter fan, I definitely feel that this is a wonderful addition to my potter collection. I didn't expect it to be as good as this, but it is, it really is. So much that I can not fault this spectacular book. Thank you Amazon for the outstanding quality you have put into this book. I sincerely reccommend that you buy the collector's edition while you still can! You will not be sorry! And J.K Rowling, you are amazing thank you so much for bringing Harry Potter in my life.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, this book is for you. It contains five wizard fairytales, and notes made by the Professor Albus Dumbledore. Like with Muggle fairytales, they contain moral messages and words of wisdom to the budding wizard. They are short and thoroughly enjoyable. The notes made by Dumbledore had me chuckling - what a great character! I loved how the books linked back to the Harry Potter series, making the book a must-have for Potter fans.

My favourite Tale was "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump"- very funny. A great washer woman. A fiery character who taught a valuable lesson and had a genius laugh.

As ever, Rowling writes in an engaging and fun way, and although this is predominantly a child's book, adults will appreciate the book too, with some subtle adult humour and comments. This was a gripping and fun book to read, and I loved the illustrations, done by Rowling herself. This is a great companion to the much-loved Harry Potter books, and I highly recommend this little gem.

10/10

This is a collection of five short parables, which remind me very much of reading Aesop's fables as a child. They are well written and thoughtful about the weaknesses of human character especially if you live in a world where magic is real. They are well written tales of fears and desires. For me they are actually better in some ways than the last Harry Potter book, because to tell a story with a message in such a small space and with originality and imagination is a serious challenge.

They are going to be perfect bed-time reading for my children and you have to think that JK probably had her own children in mind when she wrote them. I am not sure about the hairy heart one just before bed.

I am afraid I am on the fence with this one so will probably upset people who automatically think that because J K Rowling wrote this book it is perfect in every way. Well I would agree that she is indeed a fantastic author and what she has done for resurging peoples (children's especially) interest in reading is nothing short of incredible. However I do see this particular book of hers as a stop gap between the Harry Potter series and the highly anticipated novel that she has promised as her next work. For a start this book is oh so short and subsequently I took less than an hour to read it. Yes ok I am of the age where I can read relatively quickly but this book was over just too soon after it began. I didn't really have a problem with the stories in the book as we have come to know what to expect from Mrs Rowling and they provided a decent dose of entertainment. But I did have a problem with the comments that were after each story. They were supposedly an insight into the origins of the story by Albus Dumbledore himself but for me they just served as a mindless ramble just to fill up the pages. As I said before, I thought the stories were very good themselves but I feel the book could have been half the length and without the said Dumbledore commentary. I didn't feel it really added to the stories and would have preferred that instead of these there had been some more stories or the ones that were there could have had some more flesh added. Anyway I still give J K enormous credit for what she has done for the literary world even if, for me this book falls only slightly wide of the mark.

I received my book yesterday, and I'm so glad that I ordered one in time! It's a gorgeous Collector's Edition, and the quality is amazing, especially considering that a large chunk of the purchase price goes to a very worthy charity!
The outer case is huge and lovely smooth leather. The pictures embellished on it are wonderful, and it gives it a very authentic "Harry Potter" feel. Inside, the classy blue velvet interior is so luxurious, as is the ruby red velvet bag embroidered with JK Rowling's signature. The book itself is amazing - I'm loving the skull, metal and jewels! The ready-to-frame prints are a lovely touch, especially when they are by the writer herself!
I haven't even read the book itself yet, but I am really looking forward to the tales and the notes by Dumbledore. I'm waiting to read my Standard copy with my daughter! Overall, I'm so impressed with the quality of this product! 5 STARS *****

If only JK hadn't said in 'Deathly Hallows' that there were five tales in this collection! Then she could have given us our fill of post-Potter stories without continuity problems.
This is a great little book. But with a sad emphasis on little. I wanted more! The great thing about this collection is that it shows us the breadth of Rowling's talent. Each of the tales is individual, with a different tone; some light, some funny and - in the case of the Hairy Heart - some dark. And the commentary from Dumbledore has a pleasing academic tone while still being child-friendly.
Just imagine if there were seven tales, or ten, or twelve...
However, the price reflects the size which is great news. A fantastic stocking-filler for anyone with Potter withdrawal symptoms.

It seems like forever since the last Potter book came out and I have to admit I've been waiting and hoping that Jo Rowling will change her mind and continue the story, or at least write a spin off! Okay, so she's not quite done that, but at least we have a release that will go some way to quench the thirst of all of the Potterholics out there.

I have to say, it's the presentation that first strikes you. It's just about the most beautiful book I've ever seen and in my mind that makes it worth the fifty quid all by itself. Honestly, it's something that I'll treasure for years to come.

But what about the tales themselves? Well, what can i say? I must be honest, at first, I wasn't expecting too much. However, I'm eating humble pie now because there is real quality here. I would go so far as to say that this is some of the finest writing that we've seen from Rowling. There is a real darkness to these tales that we perhaps haven't seen in the world of Disney faiytales that we've had to suffer. In fact I would say that there is enough here to rival the great Brothers Grimm...well, maybe anyway. I guess I'll let you be judge of that as I'm still too excited after having whizzed through the book!

I love my copy of this book! It lives on my bookshelf in my living room where everyone can see it! People are always sayin 'Wow whats the book'...an when I show it to them there totaly amazed! If your a person for detail and interesting art this is a definate must have! The detail on the whole design is perfect...Better than what I imagined!

I thoroughly enjoyed the artful presentation of the Collector's Edition, without which I do not think that I would have enjoyed the book as much. That said, I still did find each of the stories/fables mildly entertaining in and of themselves and as a greater whole of the Potter Universe. Because of its short length and its aforementioned light literary value, I would recommed the Collector's Edition only to those that can find it at or below the original list price, or for those that are diehard Potter fans. For the casual reader, the Standard Edition is just about right in price.

This is an absolutely brilliant book that any die-hard Harry Potter fan should own as it explains so much back story and wizarding views which completes Harry's Tale & explains the events which occur especially in later books. Definitely worth a read, and if you've got kids, or might ever have kids who'll e introduced to Harry Potter in due course then this is the edition to get because it looks & feels like a really old book. Fantastic - only bettered by the novels themselves.