J.K. Rowling unveils The Ickabog, a new free online serial for kids

J.K. Rowling, the author of the famous Harry Potter franchise, is launching her latest novel as a free online serial for children.

Rowling hopes to amuse children during the pandemic and plans on calling on young fans to help make illustrations for the eventual print version.

Over 10 years ago, I wrote a stand-alone fairy tale called
The Ickabog. You can read more about how, why and
when The Ickabog was written at https://t.co/MgH9NZnSAS

2/13

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020

Rowling announced the The Ickabog on her personal website and via social media and revealed her plans to post it in segments.

New chapters of the English-language book will emerge every weekday on theickabog.com until July 10th. Rowling says that she also plans to post translations of the story in different languages.

We are pleased to announce @JK_Rowling's story #TheIckabog is now available to read online for free at https://t.co/HJVrLd0KRI. .

Each weekday, over the next seven weeks, a new instalment will be published. We hope you and your children will enjoy this original fairy tale! pic.twitter.com/ddIIWKfeHL

— J.K. Rowling's Stories (@jkr_stories) May 26, 2020

 

Rowling has released the first two chapters, which focus on the land of Cornucopia ruled by a foolish king and in the northern part of the kingdom lives the Ickabog.

However, every story agreed that a monster lived at the very northernmost tip of the country, in a wide patch of dark and often misty marsh too dangerous for humans to enter. The monster was said to eat children and sheep. Sometimes it even carried off grown men and women who strayed too close to the marsh at night.

The serial is available here.