UPDATED: Cover and Release Date Announced for “The Ickabog”

by · July 21, 2020

The cover and release date for J.K. Rowling‘s The Ickabog have been announced. The new children’s story, which the author revealed in late May, will be published on November 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom, according to videos posted to Facebook by publishers Scholastic and Hachette Children’s UK.



The book’s cover is shown in both videos and features the same title illustration unveiled earlier this year. The cover itself is teal and features numerous items related to the story inside of a diamond pattern.

No information on the cover illustrator was available from either publisher, but the illustrations featured inside the book will be selected from children’s submissions by the publishers for each market. At this time, information about the winners of those competitions has not been released.

Earlier this year, Rowling pledged that the royalties she receives from The Ickabog will go toward groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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UPDATE (July 22):

In anticipation of the story’s publication as a book, most of the English version of The Ickabog has been taken offline. According to the story’s official website, Chapters 40 to 64 (the final chapter) have been made available for an additional two weeks. They will be taken offline on August 5, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. (18:00) BST. Updates on the removal of The Ickabog in other languages will be provided on its official site.

Additionally, the website notes that J.K. Rowling will be donating her royalties from The Ickabog to her charitable trust, the Volant Charitable Trust. The royalties will be used to “assist groups who have been particularly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK and internationally.”