The Ickabog

In March we chose “The Ickabog” by J.K. Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter series. This was an interesting and unique little story that had a unique background. The story was written for J.K. Rowling’s children in pieces and is a special tale for that reason. However, when the pandemic hit in March 2020, Rowling dusted it off and edited it, releasing each chapter one at a time through her website and social media channels. She hoped it would be a new distraction to help children with something to read during lockdown.

At length, she also asked the children reading to submit artwork they created as they imagined the adventure taking place in the story. She then chose pictures from these submissions and included them in the book when it went to press as a full-length novel toward the end of 2020.

The story is basically a fairy-tale, and a cautionary tale about greed, judgement, and treating people kindly. It is told through the eyes of two children, Daisy and Bert, who face large challenges as they navigate the world of adult greed, lies and cruelty. There is also a monster, the Ickabog, and the mystery surrounding it makes all the difference to the kingdom.

This was a very different tale, and we discussed at length what children learn and understand from fairy tales and how they can incorporate the wild storytelling into morals and looking at human nature. It was an easy read, cute and the artwork was really quite impressive! It was just a sweet thing to see how many children were involved in making the story into what it is today.

“Lies upon lies upon lies. Once you started lying, you had to continue, and then it was like being captain of a leaky ship, always plugging holes in the side to stop yourself sinking.”

J.K. Rowling, The Ickabog