J.K. Rowling’s 2020 standalone children’s fantasy novel is The Ickabog. It is a fairy tale about the fictional kingdom of Cornucopia and a feared creature known as the Ickabog.
Rowling wrote the story years earlier, originally intending it for her own children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she published it online in installments, beginning in May 2020, so families could read it for free. The completed book was published later in 2020 with illustrations chosen through a children’s illustration competition.
The Ickabog is separate from the Harry Potter universe and is not a Hogwarts story. It is also distinct from The Christmas Pig, another Rowling children’s novel, which appeared in 2021. The title refers both to the legendary creature at the center of the tale and to the book itself.