Pope turns 82; new kid's book details daily life
Report from Reuters via Stuff.Co.NZ

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME: Pope Benedict XVI has celebrated his 82th birthday.

A new children's book detailing Pope Benedict XVI's daily life has been published on the pontiff's 82nd birthday.
"Max and Benedict," about a sparrow's impressions of the pope from his perch on St Peter's Basilica, is a sequel of sorts to the 2007 children's book "Joseph and Chico," which told the story of the pope's early years from the point of view of a tabby cat.

The new book contains no revelations about the pontiff's daily routine, but its narrator, Max, proves to be a charming eyewitness to the work both spiritual and bureaucratic that occupies Benedict's day.
It was published as Benedict celebrated his birthday in the quiet company of his brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo.
- AP
And here is a fuller report from the NYT, which helpfully adds at the end that an Engl;ish langauage edition is due shortly. Watch this space.