I am interested in learning Python and Django.
Are there any books that you would recommend especially to Java / JavaEE developers?
I already know Dive into Python (by Mark Pilgrim) and the Book of Django (although I think the latter expects readers to already know Python).
Cheers!
As you mentioned, Dive into Python is a great book for people coming from other languages, and is highly recommended. You can also look at the python docs for more.
I'm a java developer by trade, but learning python, and I've really enjoyed learning python. my wife got it as a textbook for a class she's taking, but it's an excellent reference and goes into good depth on how things work. For django, I use the online book as a reference, and find the footnotes feature in particular really helpful.
Perhaps you learn better from books but I learned Python from the standard tutorial: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/index.html after many years as a Java programmer. I also learned Django from their tutorial: http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/intro/tutorial01/ and some screen casts that I found.
The best way I find to learn a language is to have a small project to start with, read/skim the tutorial and when you're not sure what to do next, google or stack overflow is your friend.
Try Google's Python Class http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/
All of the answers are excellent ways to learn Python. For me I find that I learn best by getting right into it and I found that James Bennett's book, Practical Django Projects, 2nd ed was just awesome. I knew nothing about Python prior to this and I found it was perfect for learning Django and Python at the same time. By the end of the book, I had several example projects (which are also available online) and knowledge to work on my own projects. I found that I was referring to "Dive into Python" and I also did the Google class as well. Also, read the Django docs as mentioned while you are working through the book to get a better understanding of what's going on. Have fun!