MANILA, Philippines?It is a magical little book in many ways. The handsome hardcover proudly banners its ties to J.K. Rowling?s Harry Potter: The Harry Potter logo appears on a cover that also features the art of HP artist Mary GrandPré. Yet ?The Tales of Beedle the Bard? (Children?s High Group Level, London, 2008, 112 pages) is not just a book about Harry?s world, it is a book from Harry?s world.

It is, after all, mentioned fondly in ?Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? as a source of what amounts to fairy tales for young wizards. Ostensibly written in the 15th century, ?Tales? has supposedly been translated by Hermione Granger for modern audiences. If you buy it, you will hold in your hands a book that exists in the Harry Potter universe like two other Rowling books, ?Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them? and ?Quidditch Through The Ages? from 2001.

Like those books, ?Tales? maintains the illusion of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry being real. The book?s net proceeds will go to charity, the Children?s High Level Group, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Rowling that helps protect children.

Lucky readers

Readers are lucky to read this book at all. After finishing ?Hallows,? Rowling handcrafted six leather-bound copies of ?Tales.? Rowling gave these copies to people she felt were greatly responsible for Harry Potter?s success. She created a seventh copy that was auctioned off to Amazon.com for almost $4 million; all those galleons and sickles went to charity. But Pottermaniacs were disappointed to know there were no plans to publish ?Tales? for a larger audience.

Problem solved. ?Tales? is a charming tome that is surprisingly rich. The five cautionary tales are satisfying enough reads if intentionally derivative, ranging from the cute ?The Wizard and the Hopping Pot? to the gruesome ?The Warlock?s Hairy Heart,? the stories tackling the perils of misusing magic and dealing with Muggles. Writing these simple tales as Beedle the Bard, Rowling shows the flair for language that characterized the seven Potter books, with character names such as Babbity Rabbitty and Sir Luckless.

Commentary

What surprises about ?Tales? is the commentary after each story, much like a DVD commentary track. The difference is that providing these annotations is erstwhile Hogwarts headmaster, Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Dumbledore?s commentary adds depth by discussing what these tales actually say about wizards and Muggles, tracing the stories? possible origins and changes through the years. These pieces, complete with footnotes, add a darker yet insightful dimension to the book, tying it even more closely to what happens to Harry Potter?though he is mentioned by name in the book just once?and perhaps even to Dumbledore himself, reiterating the warning: ?magic causes as much trouble as its cures.?

To achieve that effect, Rowling does the opposite of breaking the fourth wall by somehow retreating into that fictional world, treating the book with straight-faced seriousness, willing you to believe that the book is indeed real, adding a sense of continuity and becoming a sort of companion to the novels. It works like a Fidelius charm.

It?s a book that was not meant to be in your hands yet it somehow is. Its timing is eerily good as it?s been over a year since the final Harry Potter novel teleported unto bookshelves and almost a year before the movie adaptation of ?Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? apparates unto silver screens. Reading it will help children around the world. And ?The Tales of Beedle the Bard? is a portal back into Hogwarts, if only briefly, Rowling?s welcome, guilt-free gift to Muggles who miss their favorite bespectacled boy wizard.

Available in hardcover from National Book Store and PowerBooks