The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector's Edition

I'm not sure what some of the negative reviewers were expecting. We got a taste of "The Tales of Beedle The Bard" in "Deathly Hallows". For me, there was no confusion about what this book was going to be, as we got to read one of the stories(The Tale of the Three Brothers) in "Deathly Hallows". The story is also situated in the book perfectly- there can be no doubt about the fact that it is a FAIRY TALE and that is all.

Anyone who was expecting an 8th instalment to the Harry Potter series obviously wasn't paying attention.

That said, this is a delightful little book of fairy tales that gives us some more insight into the world of Harry, Hermione, Ron and friends.

The fact that Rowling is able to create perfectly crafted fairy tales to me is just baffling. Even as an English teacher who has spent many college and professional years writing both for work and fun, I can't IMAGINE being able to do this. Try it. It's harder than you would think to come up with a Grimm's-esque tale. It has to have the right mixture of magic and morality, and Rowling gets it just right.

The foot-notes by Hermione and Dumbledore are cute and amusing, and give devoted fans another small dose of the Harry Potter world they've been missing.

Is it an instant classic? In my home, yes. Around the world, no, probably not, but she wrote it as a fun gift for a few friends, and it ended up being published. They're selling the thing for 10 bucks a pop, and donating the proceeds to charity...it isn't going to be bloody Shakespeare.