The Tales of Beedle the Bard Party

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is the newest book by J.K. Rowling  and a departure from the Harry Potter series.  Stll, this is an absolute must-have for Harry Potter enthusiasts.  Known to fans as the book which Albus Dumbledore left to Hermione Granger in Rowling’s final Potter novel, The Tales of Beedle the Bard contains clues which helped Harry Potter in his mission to destroy Lord Voldemort. Only one of its five stories, The Tale of the Three Brothers, was recounted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: the remaining four, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock’s Hairy Heart, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot and Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump, have not been seen before.

With an early December 2008 release, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a wonderful present for school-aged children and fans of all ages.  One interesting note:J.K. Rowling has waived her royalties for the book, with net proceeds from the sale to go to the charity she co-founded, The Children’s High Level Group, which works with vulnerable children in eastern Europe.  So, sales go to a great cause too.

If your kids are anticipating this wonderful book, gather a group together and read one of the fables and discuss it together.  Then enjoy a game of Trivia based on the details of the new fable and, of course, to test their knowledge of the characters, animals, spells, and magical objects in the other books as well.  Kids can also draw scenes from the fable as well.  Rowling originally handwrote and illustrated a limited number of editions of this book, and so encouraging the kids to create their own illustrations is quite exciting.

J. K. Rowling launched the book in Scotland with a special tea party for a select group of children.  Celebrate this new title with your own tea party too!

Here’s to these new Tales!