Fantastic Five by JK Rowling

Plus, more books from the Mr Series, award for Arabic literary translation.

Harry Potter series author J K Rowling. AP Photo

There's a way for J K Rowling to continue to milk the Harry Potter series after all: by turning the prequel movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a franchise in its own right. It was announced last week that the planned trilogy of films was being expanded to five movies, and Rowling has revealed she will write all five, the first of which is out next month. There are also plans for a series of tie-in books.

Mister Who?

For many English-speakers, their childhood would not have been complete without a set of Mr Men or Little Miss books. These brightly coloured children's stories, created in 1971 by the late Roger Hargreaves, have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. Similarly, Doctor Who has been a formative part of the lives of generations of children – which makes the news of a "mash-up" series of Doctor Who books written and illustrated in the distinctive Mr Men style exciting not only for children but also grown-ups. All of the Doctors to date will appear in their own books, titled Dr First to Dr Twelfth, with incumbent Peter Capaldi's flowing grey locks looking particularly extravagant. The first four are due out in the spring.

Translation talk

It is 10 years since the UAE ambassador to Russia, Omar Saif Ghobash, and his family launched, with Banipal magazine, an award for Arabic literary translation. The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize also now includes an annual lecture, the first of which was given by Palestinian author Anton Shammas on Friday at the British Library in London. He talked about a millennium of Arabic in translation, starting with the impact of Cairo mathematician Ibn Al Haytham on the Renaissance. Banipal has also announced the 19 books eligible for the 2016 prize, which includes 32 by Sahar Mandour.

* Ben East