JK Rowling to publish 'The Ickabog' online for free amid COVID-19 lockdown

British author-screenwriter, JK Rowling on May 26 took to Twitter to announce the release of The Ickabog, which is a free online serialisation of a bed-time story. The creator of the famous Harry Potter series initially wrote The Ickabog story for her children 10 years ago, however, she now decided to pull the story ‘down from the attic’ and public it for kids who are forced to stay home amid such unprecedented times. 

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Rowling released the first two chapters of the fairy-tale on a dedicated website. In a series of tweets, she also informed that she will be published a chapter or two every weekday and ending the series on July 10. The Ickabog is a story in the fairy tale tradition. It is set in an imaginary land and aimed primarily at children aged between seven and nine. 

The British author also said that the short story is unrelated to any of her previous works. Furthermore, while speaking to a media outlet, Rowling said that the story about truth and the abuse of power. She added that it was, however, not intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now. Rowling said that the themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country. 

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Global competition for kids 

In a series of tweets, the author also went ahead and announced a completion for young budding artists. Rowling invited young kids to illustrate the story and enter their artwork into a global completion being run by her publishers. While she informed that she won’t be judging the competition, she, however, said invited parents to share illustrations with the hashtag #TheIckabog. 

In a tweet, she said, “I’d like children to illustrate the book for me! I’ll be suggesting ideas for pictures as we go, but nobody should feel constrained by my ideas. Let your imaginations run wild!”. 

Rowling even tweeted some of the illustrations which caught her eye. Here are some of them: 

(Image: AP) 

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