New J.K. Rowling Book: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Are you one of the many Harry Potter fans who is mourning over the end of the book series? Sure you have movie releases to look forward to: the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in which we get to see the spectacular talents of Helena-Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange and a new-comer Hero Fiennes-Tiffin the nephew of Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort). In 2010 we'll get the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and then part two in 2011.

But what about the books? I miss the books, don't you? Well, do you want to know a secret? There is another book and you will get to read it very soon. It's not part of the series, but it's a Harry Potter story, nevertheless. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and last book in the cataclysmically popular Harry Potter series, Albus Dumbledore gives Hermione Granger a book. The book was called The Tales of Beedle the Bard ; the volume contained the five wizarding fairy tales of which only one was retold extant in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Happily we can know read the other four missing fairy tales because JK Rowling has published them in her new book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The book contains illustrations by both JK Rowling and the original Harry Potter illustrator Mary Grand-Pre.

A 'bard' in history is typically a poet or storyteller. Shakespeare is often referred to as the Bard or the Bard of Avon. A 'beadle' (spelled a little differently) was a pre-cursor to the modern day police constable in the UK or police officer in the US. Beadles are spoken of in medieval literature as a sort of night watchman or bailey guard.

You can pre-order your copy of Beedle for $8.44 and save $4.50 off from the cover price of $12.99. If you or your parents are Barnes and Noble members, your pre-order price will be $7.50. Order Beedle the Bard online or in stores. Your copy will be available on December 4 when Beedle is released. Other stores such as Wal-Mart of Target may feature similar pre-order options.

If you need reading material that is in the style of Harry Potter, fantasy, wizardry and such, here are some books to explore.