The problem of coming up with a clever title? Following it up. You just try writing a story called "Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump" -- "if anyone thinks it was easy, let me disabuse them here," J.K. Rowling wrote on her website of her efforts to flesh out the fairy-tale book Dumbledore leaves to Hermione in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Since J.K. wanted to create a very personal thank you present to those most closely involved with Harry over the years, she actually wrote the fables referred to in "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." "The Tale of the Three Brothers," the only one we got a real sense of in Book Seven, so that left the titles Ron rattles off: "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," the aforementioned "Babbitty Rabbitty" and a new story, "The Warlock's Hairy Heart." Rowling handwrote and illustrated the 160-page "Tales of Beedle the Bard," which is extremely limited edition -- only seven copies were made, and one of those, the "Moonstone" edition, is being auctioned off for the charity Children's Voice, with an asking price of $60,000. Don't have that kind of dough? You can look at the book, which will be on display in London until the auction on December 13. Read more...