Friday, October 24, 2008

The Tales of Beedle the Bard



Offering the trademark wit and imagination familiar to Rowling's legions of readers--as well as Aesop's wisdom and the occasional darkness of the Brothers Grimm--each of these five tales reveals a lesson befitting children and parents alike: the strength gained with a trusted friendship, the redemptive power of love, and the true magic that exists in the hearts of all of us. Rowling's new introduction also comments on the personal lessons she has taken from the Tales, noting that the characters in Beedle's collection "take their fates into their own hands, rather than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe," and "that magic causes as much trouble as it cures."

But the true jewel of this new edition is the enlightening and comprehensive commentary (including extensive footnotes!) by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who brings his unique wizard's-eye perspective to the collection. Discovered "among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives," the venerable wizard's ruminations on the Tales allow today's readers to place them in the context of 16th century Muggle society, even allowing that "Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles" during the era of witch hunts that would eventually drive the wizarding community into self-imposed exile. In fact, versions of the same stories told in wizarding households would shock many for their uncharitable treatment of their Muggle characters.

Professor Dumbledore also includes fascinating historical backstory, including tidbits such as the history and pursuit of magic wands, a brief comment on the Dark Arts and its practitioners, and the struggles with censorship that eventually led "a certain Beatrix Bloxam" to cleanse the Tales of "much of the darker themes that she found distasteful," forever altering the meaning of the stories for their Muggle audience. Dumbledore also allows us a glimpse of his personal relationship to the Tales, remarking that it was through "Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump" that "many of us [wizards] first discovered that magic could not bring back the dead."

Both a wise and delightful addition to the Harry Potter canon, this new translation of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is all that fans could hope for and more--and an essential volume for the libraries of Muggles, wizards, and witches, both young and old.(From Amazon.com)

Friday, October 10, 2008

TEEN JEOPARDY



Are you good at trivia?
Lots of Fun, Lots of Prizes.

Join us October 18th for Teen Jeopardy
New Milford Public Library
New Milford, Ct.
2-4

Preregister 860 355 1191 x204
or vfisher@biblio.org

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

IT’S YOUR FUTURE—TELL US WHAT YOU THINK



Not old enough to vote, we’d like to know what you think about the two presidential
Candidates.Where do they both stand on major issues? The economy, health care, education? It’s your future. Who makes sense? Try http://factcheck.org. It’s an unbiased site where you can see what both sides are saying or how about where the candidates have mislead the public http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_whoppers_of_2008.html Give us your vote and we’ll tally the results and post them in November.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Grab Bag of Books Giveaway

Every month in our Grab Bag of Books contest, five readers are awarded a Teenreads.com signature tote bag filled with some of the hottest books --- and may even include a sneak peak at titles that haven’t been released yet! This contest period’s winners will each receive a copy of AIRHEAD by Meg Cabot, THE GOOD NEIGHBORS: Book One - Kin by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh, THE MIRACLE GIRLS by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt, SUITE SCARLETT by Maureen Johnson and the VAMPIRE KISSES Box Set, which includes the first three books of Ellen Schreiber’s Vampire Kisses series
http://www.teenreads.com/features/grab_bag/index.asp