The Guardian is reporting today that, to mark the release of the
Tales of Beedle the Bard on December 4th, J.K. Rowling will host a tea party, at which she will read from the book.
The event will be held at the
National Library of Scotland, with attendees selected through a random ballot of ten schools, with the potential for twenty guests from each, aged from eight to eleven. It will be
run by the
Edinburgh Evening News and will open on November 5th.
Amazon, Bloomsbury & Scholastic will also be running contests for fans to attend. It is uncertain whether these will also be just for children. When we know more, we'll let you know.
The library will also have on display, for a month, from December 5th - January 4th 2009, one of the original copies of
Tales of Beedle the Bard, on loan from Barry Cunningham, Rowling's first editor.
If you haven't yet pre-ordered your copy of the book, you can use the following links:
Amazon:
Collector's Edition &
Standard Edition.
Amazon.co.uk:
Collector's Edition &
Standard Edition
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UPDATE: Scholastic have just sent us a press release announcing an essay contest, with the grand prize being a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland to attend the tea party. Further to this, one of the original copies of
Tales of Beedle the Bard will go on display at the
New York Public Library for a month, on loan from Arthur A. Levine, American Editor of all seven books in the
Harry Potter series. There will be a press preview of the book on December 3rd, which SnitchSeeker will be covering.
In keeping with the theme of the book launch, with sales benefitting the
Children’s High Level Group, a charity that protects and promotes children’s rights and makes life better for vulnerable young people, the essay must be 200 words or less describing how you have helped others. This contest opens TODAY and closes on October 30th at 5pm EST.
Entrants must be legal residents of the United States with a valid U.S. passport and aged between 8 - 17. Each winner will have to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, who must also have a valid U.S. passport and be available to travel with the winner. Full details can be found
here. Five winners will be chosen in total.
The event will also feature a Question & Answer session with Jo, hosted by Barry Cunningham.