J.K. Rowling and The Tales of Beedle the Bard

J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard is out on the shelves today with something just short of the fanfare of a typical Harry Potter launch. Still, 8 million copies were released worldwide, and the book has already begun rising to the top of all the bestseller lists.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of fairy tales mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. According to this Associated Press article, Rowling, who both wrote and illustrated The Tales, described them as a distillation of themes from the Harry Potter books and her goodbye to that world.

Rowling is donating royalties from the book to a children's charity that she co-founded.