JK Rowling to launch new children’s book in October

Harry Potter author JK Rowling will release a new children’s book entitled “The Christmas Pig” this autumn, her publishers announced on Tuesday.

The Scottish author’s latest will be released simultaneously in 20 different countries and multiple languages on October 12, French publisher Gallimard said.

It will tell the story of a young boy named Jack, who goes to extreme lengths to find his stuffed toy pig, and is aimed at children of eight years and up.

It will have been less than a year since Rowling, 55, released her last book, a fairy tale titled “The Ickabog” — though that was her first children’s book since the seventh and final instalment of Harry Potter in 2007.

In the interim, she released several novels for adults, which have proved popular, albeit not on the world-changing scale of those about the boy-wizard.