JK Rowling unveils new book and will donate all royalties
JK Rowling has unveiled a new children’s book, which she is releasing in chapters each weekday for children to enjoy during these “strange, unsettling times”.
The author announced the news on Twitter, saying the upcoming book – titled The Ickabog – is not a spin-off of her best-selling Harry Potter series.
Rowling said she wrote “most of the first draft” more than 10 years ago, while she was still writing the Harry Potter books.
“A few weeks ago at dinner, I tentatively mooted the idea of getting The Ickabog down from the attic and publishing it for free, for children in lockdown,” Rowling said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Over the last few weeks I’ve done a bit of rewriting and I’ve decided to publish The Ickabog for free online, so children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times, can read it or have it read to them.”
Chapters of The Ickabog are being published every weekday until July 10 on The Ickabog website.
Rowling also invited young readers to draw illustrations for the story in an official competition being run by Scholastic. Winners will see their artwork in the book, which will be published in print, eBook and audiobook in November.
“Creativity, inventiveness and effort are the most important things: we aren’t necessarily looking for the most technical skill!” she said.
Rowling is pledging all author royalties from the book to “projects and organisations helping the groups most impacted by COVID-19”, she wrote on Twitter.