Vicki Myron and Page. (AP)

Vicki Myron, author of the best-seller Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World (Grand Central, $19.99), didn't plan on getting a new pet right away, but a little orange and white tabby changed her mind. "I fell in love instantly," Myron says of the kitten that was found by the side of a road. Myron, who retired after 20 years as director of the Spencer Public Library in Iowa, has named the kitten Page.

Read the Sun-Times review of Dewey.

Kids everywhere will be rejoicing this holiday season -- J.K. Rowling's long-awaited The Tales of Beedle the Bard is finally on store shelves. Parents will rejoice, too. The standard copy costs a mere $12.99.

The book -- a collection of five fables mentioned in Rowling's Harry Potter series of books -- launched in 20 countries with a global print run of about 8 million. (I did not get a copy in the book room, but then again, Rowling doesn't really need the help of newspaper reviews to make sales.)

The author celebrated by attending a tea party with 200 schoolchildren in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she lives.

Author JK Rowling reads passages from her new
book to schoolchildren at a tea party in the
Parliament Hall Edinburgh. (David Cheskin/AP)

"We expect it to come straight in at No. 1 and is very likely to be our No. 1 book this Christmas," Jon Howells of Britain's Waterstone's book store chain told the Associated Press. "It's in with a fighting chance of being the best-selling book of the year, even though there are only a few weeks to go.

"This is J.K. Rowling. None of the usual rules apply."

Rowling is donating her royalties to the Children's High Level Group, which helps institutionalized children in Eastern Europe.