JK Rowling recently made the surprise announcement of a new children’s novel — the first that will take place outside the world of Harry Potter.
Her new story, The Ickabog, is a fairytale that will be released for free on its website. It will have a staggered release over the next seven weeks, meaning the novel will be updated in installments. There are currently 2 chapters available on the site.
(Daniel Radcliffe returns to the world of Harry Potter in special lockdown initiative)
“I had the idea for The Ickabog a long time ago and read it to my two younger children chapter by chapter each night while I was working on it,” Rowling writes of her new story. “However, when the time came to publish it, I decided to put out a book for adults instead, which is how The Ickabog ended up in the attic. I became busy with other things, and even though I loved the story, over the years I came to think of it as something that was just for my own children.”
She continues: “Then this lockdown happened. It’s been very hard on children, in particular, so I brought The Ickabog down from the attic, read it for the first time in years, rewrote bits of it and then read it to my children again. They told me to put back in some bits they’d liked when they were little, and here we are!”
Another special part of the release is that Rowling is asking children aged 7-12 to be a part of the novel’s illustration. She’ll be making suggestions for what kids could draw for the story and publishers will choose from these submissions to use in the official distribution! You can check the rules here:
Please share your children's artwork with us using #TheIckabog and tag us in the post. Read our submissions guide at https://t.co/msLWYGDlYF
— J.K. Rowling's Stories (@jkr_stories) May 26, 2020
(Visit the Wizarding World from the safety of your beds with ‘Harry Potter at Home’)
And, when the book is officially published in November all the proceeds will be donated to those affected by COVID-19.
What do you think about this?Â
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