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

Do you know what the following symbol represents?



This symbol represents the "Deathly Hallows," the unification of 3 powerful magical objects. In chapter 21 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, one of the characters is wearing the symbol which brings up the legend of the Deathly Hallows. The triangle represents an invisibility cloak that never fades, the circle represents the Resurrection Stone with which one could communicate with the dead, and the straight line represents the Elder Wand-the most powerful unbeatable magical wand in existence. These objects together are the Deathly Hallows.

In Chapter 21 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the symbol of the Hallows appears and of course Ron and Hermione have heard of them. To them the legend of the Deathly Hallows obviously comes from the bedtime story called the "Tale of the Three Brothers," from the book, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard,' a book all magical parents read at bedtime to their young children, like a bedtime book muggle parents read from such as Mother Goose or Grimm's Fairy Tales. Harry Potter, since he was raised by Muggles, had never heard of 'Tales of Beedle the Bard.'

In the short story called "Tales of Three Brothers," three brothers start walking over a bridge when they meet the personification of Death-Death takes on a physical form like the Grim Reaper. Death grants each of them a wish in order to trick them. He will grant their wish, but use the wish against them in order to kill them. The first brother asks for an unbeatable wand. The second asks for the ability to bring the dead back to life. The Third asks for an invisbility cloak. Death is later able to take all three of them, but I won't say how.

For most in the magical world, these were considered just bedtime stories, except by three characters in the seventh Harry Potter book who eventually took the story literally, and very seriously. The Tale of the Three Brothers predicts the nature of all three of their deaths.

I don't want to tell you any more-I've probably said too much already. If you want to have some fun back-tracking through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I would recommend, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J. K. Rowling, translated by Hermione Granger, with notes from Albus Dumbledore.


*Seven original handwritten copies of this book were published this past summer, six of them going to people that J. K. Rowling felt were important to her and the success of the Harry Potter series. Each book was made unique with a different precious stone inlaid on each book's cover. The seventh one was auctioned off to raise funds for Children's High Level Group, a charity that helps abandoned children. Can you guess how much the winning bid was?

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

The best way I can think of telling about this book is by showing you objects that remind me about certain parts of the first few chapters from the book-sort of like using a character bag to describe what items an important character of a book would possess. Here are some significant objects and things from the book Chains:

Seeds-after Isabel says goodbye at her mother's grave, she barely has enough time to take something to remember her former home. She takes a packet full of seeds. She dare not take anything else lest she be severely punished.

The Snake-This how Isabel refers to Mr. Roberts. There is probably no better way to describe him as he cares little for anyone else and is preoccupied with the profit he'll make selling Isabel and her sister Ruth at auction in the city of Newport. Although distasteful to some, auctioning off people as if they were property was still an accepted business practice in Newport in the year 1776.

The Lion-This is how Isabel pictures her father. She remembers him roaring with the strength of a lion when they tried to bust-up his family as if they some kind of farm animals. It took five men to stop him, but as if they pulled out his claws and teeth, her father couldn't stop the men from taking his girls away.

A ship-It took 2 days and 2 nights to go from New Port to New York. Isabel's new masters, Mr. and Mrs. Lockton enjoyed the view above decks while Isabel and her sister Ruth endured the stench below decks, sharing the space with six sheep, a pen of hogs, three families from Scotland and 50 casks of Cod fish labeled with the names Lockhart and Foote.

A walnut trunk or chest-Washington's soldiers greeted the Locktons with suspicion. They considered the Locktons to be Loyalists, Tories, and possibly British spies. The soldiers didn't trust anything that was labeled Lockton and Foote so they searched everything brought ashore except for one walnut trunk belonging to Mrs. Lockton. She protested of course, but the soldiers also didn't want to risk offending a lady's dignity by searching through her clothes.

A pail-Isabel was immediately sent to fetch a pail of water for her new masters the Locktons, but she had no idea where to get some. She was rescued by a boy named Curzon who helped her, but he had another objective on his mind. He approached Isabel to ask her if she would spy on the Locktons for Washington's soldiers.

A hidden compartment in Mrs. Lockton's walnut trunk-Isabel learned of a secret compartment in Mrs. Lockton's walnut chest which was possibly full of money, British money. What was the money for? Would she decide to spy on the Locktons after all?

A chain-why should Isabel help Washington's soldiers? Wouldn't they be using her for their own gain? But why should she be faithful to the Lockons, her new masters that purchased her like she was a piece of property? How could she escape the chains of slavery to obtain the freedom she was promised by her original owner?


If you like historical fiction, I would like to recommend the book, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. She also wrote one of my favorite historical fiction books called, Fever 1793.


The book, Fever 1793

Who's Haunting the White House?

Who’s Haunting the White House: The President’s Mansion and the Ghosts Who Live There by Jeff Belanger , Illustrated by Rick Powell

2008 has been a year of noteworthy ghost books. I’m not usually a fan of this genre, but they keep coming at me this year. Over Thanksgiving break I tuned in to a show on the History Channel called The White House Behind Closed Doors, with First Lady Laura Bush as the host. (I just happened to have the ghost book with me-another one of those coincidences.) During the program the First Lady retold a story about a famous overnight guest at the White House at the time of World War 2 that suggests the place is haunted. I’ll get back to this in a bit, but I can say for now that it does confirm something told in the book I read.

In the book, Who’s Haunting the White House, there is an extensive section on Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. You could say they experienced a “dark cloud” over their lives during their stay at the executive mansion. There was the heavy burden of the Civil War, with all of its death and destruction weighing heavily on the President. And then their son Willie died while they lived there. Mary Todd Lincoln would later claim that after Willie’s death she was regularly visited by her son’s ghost [p.25]. Another strange and dark incident involved the President himself. One day he glanced at a mirror in his office and noticed a double image of himself. The second image looked deathly pale, almost as if he were dead. President Lincoln also remarked to his wife and bodyguard about a dream he had in which he attended his own funeral. Shortly thereafter Lincoln would be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre.

After President Lincoln was assassinated, Mary Todd Lincoln sought out the famous “spirit photographer” William Mumler of Boston to bring her some comfort. Mumler made a fake photograph showing a faint image of a tall bearded man in the background apparently meant to be Lincoln’s ghost. (Mumler would frequently hire actors to pose for pictures he later used in his “spirit photographs.” )

To this day the rumor continues that the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House is haunted by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. When President Reagan was in office, his little dog Rex would walk down the hallway and would stop and bark just at the door of the Lincoln Bedroom, as if sensing something.

Tony Savoy, formerly a White House operations foreman, commented:

“I used to come in early and turn the lights on. When I turned the light on one morning, he was sitting there outside his office with his hands over the top of each other, legs crossed, and was looking straight ahead. He had a gray, charcoal pin-striped suit on, and he had a pair of three-button spats turned over on the side with black shoes on. He was sitting there, and he startled me and I stopped. And when I blinked, he was gone.”

Well, this brings me back to Laura Bush’s story. During World War 2, Winston Churchill who was Prime Minister for Great Britain at the time, was a frequent overnight visitor at the White House. One night, after taking a bath with his ritual cigar in his mouth, he stepped out of the bathroom, naked, to find himself in front of Lincoln leaning on the mantelpiece. Churchill, who was of course startled but known for never being at a loss for words, said:

“Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

Churchill would stay overnight at the White House again, but he would only sleep in the map room in the White House basement, as far away from the Lincoln Bedroom as he could get.


(For more on "Spirit Photographers" see the blog entry about the book: Seer of Shadows by Avi.)

I would also like to recommend the book, Our White House: Looking In Looking Out.

It's a book containing both true and fictional short stories about the Presidents and their families that made the White House their home. Some of my favorite sections include: a true story about Thomas Jefferson and his collection of fossil bones he spread out over the whole floor of the White House East Room, a section on the Presidential pets-including the "First Cow," how FDR made rain miraculously fall from the sky, and of course the part on White House hauntings.

I've got one more for you. I would also like to recommend, Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered by Barry Denenberg.



A biography of Lincoln is presented in newspaper format. The oversize book with pages made to look 140 years old works well as an attempt to take readers back in time. At first glance I bet some readers will think the book is a primary source. Anyone interested in American history and the life of Abraham Lincoln will enjoy this book.