JK Rowling has sent Harry Potter fans into overdrive after announcing that she will be publishing a new children's book while stuck in lockdown.
The Harry Potter author took to Twitter to announce that she will be releasing a chapter from her new book every day for free to cheer people up in these "unsettling times"
The first chapter of her new book entitled The Ickabog, will go live from 3 pm today (26 May) and anyone will be allowed to access it on a brand new website dedicated to the book.
Unfortunately for Harry Potter fans, JK Rowling wanted to stress that the new book is in no way a Potter "spin-off."
However, fans of the author will be excited to know that there is a way they can get involved with The Ickabog.
JK Rowling is searching for children who can "illustrate the book" for her by "suggesting ideas for pictures" as they read each chapter.
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JK Rowling said: "I have a small announcement, but before I get started, I want to head off one possible source of confusion. THIS IS NOT A HARRY POTTER SPIN-OFF.
"Over 10 years ago, I wrote a stand-alone fairy tale called The Ickabog...I always meant to publish it, but after the last Potter was released I wrote two novels for adults and, after some dithering, decided to put those out next.
"Until very recently, the only people who’d heard the story of The Ickabog were my two younger children.
"Anyway, 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."
She added: "We’ll be publishing a chapter (or 2 or 3) every weekday, starting at 3.00pm today and ending on July 10th.
"You don’t need to register to access the story. You can read it for free on a new website we’ll be launching shortly.
"I’d like children to illustrate the book for me! I’ll be suggesting ideas for pictures as we go, but nobodyshould feel constrained by my ideas. Let your imaginations run wild!
"The best pictures in each publishing territory will be included in the books we intend to publish in November 2020.
"As individual publishers will know best which illustrations work in their editions, I won’t be personally judging this competition.
"If parents or guardians would like to post artwork on the hashtag #TheIckabog, I’ll be able to retweet and comment!
"Lastly, I intend to donate my author royalties from the published books to projects and organisations helping the groups most impacted by Covid-19."
