Sandra emailed us this article from a local paper in Glencoe with some great details about the filming: Warner Brothers has been inundated with requests from kids and parents to be extras on set during the location shoot in the gloomy glen. Warner Brothers’ spokeswoman Vanessa Davies said yesterday: “We would say to children or …read more!

The BBC picked up an article from the Wall Street Journal today on some of the stats for book sales in the US. Scholastic will ship 8.5 million copies of the book to shops in time for its release. The marketing campaign will cost between $3-4m (£1.8-2.5m). The four previous Harry Potter books have sold …read more!

Well, fellow witches & wizards (and sneaky muggles) – it begins. Over the next month you’ll be seeing hundreds of articles about one of the largest launches in the history of the book – TLC even has something due out this week to celebrate this massive undertaking. Scholastic has announced a huge marketing campaign including …read more!

Thanks to David for sending us this snippet from The Week Magazine. It sounds like Arthur Weasley will have his hands full: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Denounce your neighbor: The Saudi religious police have launched a Web site where Saudis can anonymously accuse their neighbors of violating religious laws, MEMRI.org reported this week. In one post, …read more!

The BBC has an update about Azkaban filming at Glencoe over the weekend. Rain has been hampering progress over the past week. Hagrid’s hut has been built and there is a smallish castle structure too, says one local councillor.

An interesting article in the Canberra Times discusses a bookseller whose just started reading Book 1. It also contains some information about the release of Book V, on Saturday, June 21st at 9am in Australia: I’ve only just started reading the first few chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and already Harry’s my …read more!

The Sunday Mail has an update of rugby-player Martin Bayfield whose been Robbie Coltrane’s double of Hagrid since the first movie. Funny they say it’s an exclusive since we reported it in January 2001.

According to today’s Daily Star & Daily Express papers, Hagrid actor Robbie Coltrane has settled in nicely with the 12-stone neopolitan mastiff named Luigi, playing the role of Fang. Daily Star Luigi, a 12-stone Neapolitan mastiff, has finally taken the lead role alongside Coltrane after playing back-up in Harry Potter, The Prisoner of Azkaban.Trainer Julie …read more!

You may recall some months ago that Indian publishing houses Sahitya Tirtha and Nandita Publishers were in a dispute with WB and J.K. Rowling over Harry Potter Kolkataye – a book which author Uttam Ghosh sets the boy wizard in Kolkata and introduces a native boy named Jhontu. The Times of India has an update …read more!

In today’s Guardian, Natasha Walter takes a look at the issue of aging and the Harry Potter series. She points oit, and rightly so, that Harry is about to turn 15 and at the end of the series, he’ll be 18. He has to grow up sometime. Many children’s writers skip over the issue altogether, …read more!