JK Rowling’s New Book, The Ickabog Released on Tuesday

Celebrated author JK Rowling’s latest book, The Ickabog, goes on sale today. In her tweet following the launch, JK Rowling said that she will donate the royalties from the book to her charitable trust, Volant, to support vulnerable groups affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The Ickabog is another fairy tale from JK Rowling, often regarded as one of the all-time greats in the genre. The story revolves around a mythical monster and two children who take up the challenge to defeat it. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, the children’s books subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, have published the book.

The book comes in an illustrated edition and is available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook format. All of these illustrations were done by the winners of The Ickabog Illustration Competition, all of whom were young kids. However, it is worth noting the story itself is not totally new. JK Rowling published it online in installments, between 26th May 2020 to 10th July 2020. The online installments had several millions of impressions from more than 50 countries.

Unsurprisingly, like previous Rowling books, The Ickabog has received a mostly positive review from critics, especially for its illustrations. In her review for The Scotsman, Kelly Apter said,

“It’s not hard to imagine Rowling at her children’s bedside, filling their heads with images as she spoke of King Fred the Fearless and his freeloading friends Lords Spittleworth and Flapoon, dressed in breeches, doublets and ruffled shirts.”

That said, there will never be a Rowling book that isn’t compared to her magnum opus, the Harry Potter series. In their review of The Ickabog, The Daily Telegraph stated that though the book is fun, it doesn’t have the magic of Harry Potter.

About the Author

Joanne Rowling OBE, better known as JK Rowling, is one of the highest-selling authors of all time, with sales of her books marching well over 500 million copies. Arguably the greatest writer of the children’s fantasy genre, Rowling has won several awards including several children’s book of the year prizes. Her greatest work, however, remains the Harry Potter series, which continues to remain the top-selling list for children’s books.

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