The Tales of Beedle the Bard

In case you didn't hear, Sotheby's was auctioning off a copy of J.K. Rowlings hand-written and illustrated book of fairy tales. Amazon.com bought it for 1.95 million pounds, and the proceeds will go to Rowling's charity, The Children's Voice.

There are extensive plot summaries and images from the book on Amazon's Beedle the Bard website.

Where the Wild Things Came From

Here is an interesting slide show of picture book art from the nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century, from Slate magazine:

How children's books evolved from morals to madcap fun.