JK Rowling Is Releasing Unpublished Book The Ickabog She Wrote 10 Years Ago
JK Rowling has announced she’s releasing a new bedtime story for kids – completely free online – to help families confined at home during the pandemic.
Explaining her new project on Twitter, the author wrote: “Over 10 years ago, I wrote a stand-alone fairy tale called The Ickabog. I always meant to publish it, but after the last Potter was released, I wrote two novels for adults and, after some dithering, decided to put those out next.
“Until very recently, the only people who’d heard the story of The Ickabog were my two younger children.”
I have a small announcement, but before I get started, I
want to head off one possible source of confusion.
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THIS IS NOT A HARRY POTTER SPIN-OFF
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1/13— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020
Over time, she wrote, she came to think of “The Ickabog” as just for her family, so the manuscript went up in her attic. But a few weeks ago, she decided to get it down.
“Opening the box was like opening a time capsule,” she wrote. “Most of the story was handwritten, but bits had been typed up. When I put it into some kind of order (I’m not renowned for my filing skills) I had a patchwork first draft.”
Opening the box was like opening a time capsule. Most of the story was handwritten, but bits had been typed up. When I put it into some kind of order (I'm not renowned for my filing skills) I had a patchwork first draft.
5/13 pic.twitter.com/mz1qaGyyUt— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020
She continued: “We’ll be publishing a chapter (or 2 or 3) every weekday, starting at 3pm today and ending on July 10th. You don’t need to register to access the story. You can read it for free on a new website we’ll be launching shortly. But there’s more.”
Rowling went on to explain that she’d like kids to illustrate the book for her. She’ll be suggesting ideas, but says “nobody should feel constrained by my ideas. Let your...
