JK Rowling releasing new fairytale she penned back in her 'Harry Potter' days

Here’s a little bit of good news for Harry Potter fans both young and old: JK Rowling is finally releasing another children’s book—her first non-Potterverse work intended for younger readers. Beginning May 26, Rowling will share the story of The Ickabog chapter by chapter on her website for free. The author describes the new work as a political fairytale that centres on the abuse of power but don’t expect any veiled references to Boris Johnson or Donald Trump or the way that governments across the planet are reacting to (or failing to react to) the pandemic.Rowling explains further on her site: "To forestall one obvious question: the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn't intended to be read as a response to anything that's happening in the world right now. The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country."[video_embed id='1814988']RELATED: Holy Harry Potter: it’s a real-life invisibility cloak[/video_embed]The Ickabog has been sitting under its own kind of lockdown for a decade. The fairytale had been left unpublished because of the sentimental bond her family had with the story. "Over time I came to think of it as a story 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 happy family memory," wrote Rowling. The text has languished unread in Rowling’s attic ever since—until now, when the first chapter will appear on her site. An additional chapter will be released each day following until the story concludes on July 10.Rowling shared a snapshot of her original manuscript on Twitter, stored, she said, in a box that probably once contained one of her Harry Potter film premiere dresses.

Opening the box was like opening a time capsule. Most of the story was handwritten, but bits had been typed up. When I put it into some kind of order (I'm not renowned for my filing skills) I had a patchwork first draft.

5/13 pic.twitter.com/mz1qaGyyUt— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020

Upon unearthing the tale from its storage place, her teenage children weighed in on the final draft. "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 tiny, and demanded the reinstatement of bits they'd particularly liked (I obeyed)," she recalled.For those who prefer to hold a beloved book in their hands, The Ickabog will receive the old-school book treatment, too. Readers can get their hands on a copy this November. Rowling will donate her royalties from the publication "to help groups who've been particularly impacted by the pandemic.”[video_embed id='1950931']RELATED: Sophie Turner only agreed to date Joe Jonas if he watched 'Harry Potter'[/video_embed]