To celebrate the 4 December launch of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Scholastic is sponsoring an essay contest for US kids, the winners of which will attend a “once-in-a lifetime event in Edinburgh, Scotland with J.K. Rowling.” They’ll also be sponsoring an exhibition of “one of only seven original copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, hand-written and illustrated by the author, [which] will go on display at The New York Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.”
Rowling wrote the book “to help others. It is published by the Children’s High Level Group—the English charity, co-founded by Rowling and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, to protect and promote children’s rights and make life better for vulnerable young people—in cooperation with Scholastic, Bloomsbury, and Amazon.”
To enter the essay contest, fans should “write an essay of 200 words or less describing how they have helped others. Because so many kids today are taking an interest in helping others in their schools, communities, and around the world, the contest gives them an opportunity to write about causes they care about and what they’ve done to make a difference.” Deadline is 5PM on 30 October. Complete contest details and rules are available on this page.
Five winners and their chaperones will receive all-expense paid trips to Edinburgh, Scotland, to attend an exclusive event at the National Library of Scotland on 4 December with Rowling. The celebration will be a children’s tea party with 250 children. Rowling will read from The Tales of Beedle the Bard and then take questions in a session hosted by Chicken House Publisher Barry Cunningham (Rowling’s first editor).
For those not traveling to Scotland, and those visiting New York, one of Rowling’s seven original hand-written and -illustrated copies of the book, which featured prominently in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be on display at the New York Public Library from 4 December 2008 to 4 January 2009. The copy is on loan from Arthur A. Levine, who was Rowling’s US editor of the series, and whom she gave the book as a gift last year.