Today is the release date for J.K. Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard and sales are brisk. The book's proceeds go to charity and are expected to raise twelve million pounds sterling for European children in need.
Unlike the profits from the novels in the core Harry Potter series, the proceeds from Beedle the Bard are going to an east European children's charity chaired by Rowling, called the Children's High Level Group. Based on a European commission-backed organisation of the same name run by MEP Emma Nicholson to coordinate efforts to rehome 100,000 Romanian children kept in appalling conditions in state institutions, the charity focuses on rebuilding children's services in five east European countries.
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Rowling said she hoped the new book would "not only be a welcome present to Harry Potter fans, but an opportunity to give these abandoned children a voice. It will encourage young people across the world to think about those who are less fortunate, and help change many young lives for the better."
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is the #1 bestselling book on Amazon.com.
