About The IckabogThe estimate for The Ickabog came to me while I was still writing Harry Potter. I wrote most of a first base draft in fits and starts between Potter books, intending to publish it after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows .
however, after the last Potter book I wanted to take a unwrap from publication, which ended up last five years. In that time I wrote The Casual Vacancy and Robert Galbraith wrote The Cuckoo ’ south Calling. After some dither ( and besides after my enduring agent had trademarked The Ickabog – regretful, Neil ) I decided I wanted to step away from children ’ south books for a while. At that bespeak, the first draft of The Ickabog went up into the attic, where it ’ mho remained for about a decade. Over clock I came to think of it as a floor that belonged to my two younger children, because I ’ d read it to them in the evenings when they were little, which has always been a felicitous family memory .
A few weeks ago at dinner, I tentatively mooted the estimate of getting The Ickabog down from the attic and publishing it for free, for children in lockdown. My now teenagers were affectingly enthusiastic, thus downstairs came the identical dusty box, and for the last few weeks I ’ ve been immersed in a fictional earth I thought I ’ d never figure again. As I worked to finish the book, I started reading chapters nightly to the family again. This was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my writing life, as The Ickabog ’ s first two readers told me what they remember from when they were bantam, and demanded the reinstatement of bits they ’ five hundred particularly liked ( I obeyed ).
I think The Ickabog lends itself well to serialization because it was written as a read-aloud book ( unconsciously shaped, I think, by the manner I read it to my own children ), but it ’ s suitable for 7-9 year olds to read to themselves .
I ’ ll be posting a chapter ( or two, or three ) every weekday between 26th May and 10th July on The Ickabog web site. The Ickabog is available to read in English ( UK/US ), french, italian, german, spanish and brazilian Portuguese, check the web site for updates on extra languages .
The Ickabog is a report about truth and the abuse of power. To forestall one obvious motion : the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn ’ triiodothyronine intended to be read as a reaction to anything that ’ sulfur happening in the world right now. The themes are dateless and could apply to any era or any country .
The Illustration Competition
Having decided to publish, I thought how fantastic it would be if children in lockdown, or differently necessitate distraction during the strange and unmanageable time we ’ re passing through, illustrated the report for me. There will be suggestions about the illustrations we might need for each chapter on The Ickabog web site, but cipher should feel constrained by these ideas. I want to see imaginations run crazy ! Creativity, inventiveness and effort are the most authoritative things : we aren ’ thyroxine necessarily looking for the most technical skill !
In November 2020, The Ickabog will be published in English in mark, eBook and audiobook formats, curtly followed by other languages. The best drawings in each district will be included in the finished books. As publishers in each territory will need to decide which pictures work well for their own editions, I won ’ triiodothyronine be personally judging the entries. however, if parents and guardians post their children ’ sulfur drawing on Twitter using the hashtag # TheIckabog, I ’ ll be able to share and comment ! To find out more about the Illustration Competition, go to The Ickabog web site .
Covid-19 Donation
I ’ thousand pledging all generator royalties from The Ickabog, when published, to help groups who ’ ve been particularly impacted by the pandemic. Further details will be available late in the year .
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Huge thanks are due…
… to my lamb friend and editor program Arthur Levine ; to the phenomenal James McKnight of the Blair Partnership, who ’ s worked indefatigably to make this plan a reality in a very short space of time ; to Ruth Alltimes at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, whose assistant has been invaluable ; to my matchless management team, Rebecca Salt, Nicky Stonehill and Mark Hutchinson and to my fantastic agent Neil Blair. I promise all of you not to have any more bright ideas for a few months at least .
