The Ickabog

The Ickabog

Author	J.K. Rowling
Language	English
Publication date	10 November 2020
Publication place	United Kingdom

The Ickabog is a fairy tale by British author J. K. Rowling. The story was published in installments by Rowling online, before its official publication in November 2020. The Ickabog is Rowling's first children's book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007.

Background and release

J. K. Rowling wrote The Ickabog

The Ickabog is aimed for children between the ages of seven and nine. It is the first children's book written by J. K. Rowling that is not set in the Harry Potter universe, and at its announcement, Rowling confirmed that The Ickabog would not be a Harry Potter spin-off. Rowling has described the book as a "political fairytale ... for slightly younger children". Rowling first drafted The Ickabog between 2003 and 2007, as a gift for her children. She intended to publish The Ickabog after the Harry Potter series, but stopped after focusing on adult fiction instead. She left her script of The Ickabog in her attic until 2020. Rowling says that she went to her 50th birthday party wearing a dress containing the "lost manuscript" of The Ickabog. Rowling has made some adjustments to her original script after feedback from her children.

Rowling announced that she would release the book online in 34 free online daily instalments between 26 May and 10 July 2020. Rowling said that "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." The first two chapters were released on 26 May 2020. Later, chapters three to five were published on 27 May 2020. The final chapter, 64, was published on 10 July 2020. In the first 24 hours, The Ickabog website had more than 5 million views from 50 countries.

The Ickabog was released as a published book, e-book and audiobook on 10 November 2020, and is no longer available for free reading online. Rowling has said that she will donate her royalties from the book to charity. Rowling also organised an illustration competition with ideas for images needed for each chapter of the book. The best illustrations are featured in the published book. The book is published by Hachette UK.

Setting

The Ickabog is set in the mythical land of Cornucopia, which is ruled by King Fred. The Ickabog is a monster that is said to inhabit the marshes of the North, used to explain the disappearance of sheep and people that wander into the marshes, and used to scare children. The south of Cornucopia is a prosperous area, with cities each specialising in different foods, in contrast to the less-wealthy north, known as the Marshlands.

Plot

On the eve of a visit from the king of the neighbouring country of Pluritania, Dora Dovetail dies of overwork, due to frantically trying to finish King Fred's latest costume, despite being ill. Fred, although embarrassed and feeling guilty, declines to visit the seamstress's family. The Dovetails, especially Daisy Dovetail, Dora's daughter, become bitter and disillusioned with him. This leads to a fight between Daisy and her close friend Bert Beamish, Major Beamish's son, when the former insults Fred. Upon hearing of the fight, Fred resolves to be less self-centred.

When a shepherd from the Marshlands begs the king to rid the country of the Ickabog, Fred leaps at the chance to prove himself, riding to the North immediately. However, due to Fred's impetuousness, an accident occurs in the marshes that results in Major Beamish accidentally getting shot by Flapoon, one of Fred's advisors/friends. Seeing the opportunity to take control of the kingdom and become richer, Spittleworth, Flapoon's ally, pretends that Beamish was killed by the Ickabog, scaring Fred and the rest of the army into belief.

On their return, three soldiers, including Goodfellow, a friend of Beamish, and Herringbone, the Chief Advisor, raise objections to the story. Herringbone is murdered and the three soldiers are imprisoned and given a false trial, ruining their names. A heavy tax is imposed on the country, to pay for an "Ickabog Defence Brigade". King Fred is scared into staying within the capital, to prevent him from seeing the poverty the tax has caused. Spittleworth, the new Chief Advisor, has the Dovetails kidnapped, with Dan being sent to prison, and forced to carve Ickabog feet for faking attacks on dissenters. Daisy is sent away to be murdered, although she ends up in Ma Grunter's orphanage.

Several years pass, with the tax doubling, ostensibly to pay for more soldiers. Bert and his mother, Bertha Beamish, the king's head pastry chef, later guess Spittleworth's plot after Bert discovers a miniature Ickabog foot, the relic of a toy made for him by the now insane Dan Dovetail, identical to that of the supposed Ickabog. When she attempts to reveal the plot to the king, she is kidnapped and placed in the dungeons. Bert meanwhile escapes the city with the help of an incorrupt guard as Major Roach leads soldiers to arrest him. Arriving in the city of Jeroboam, Bert meets Roderick Roach, who tells him that Spittleworth killed Major Roach and imprisoned his family upon the latter's failure to capture Bert. However, before the two can go anywhere, they are captured by Basher John, and taken to the orphanage, where Bert meets Daisy. Meanwhile, Bertha Beamish has had the dungeons transformed into a kitchen, where, with the help of the prisoners, she continues in her old job, while slowly pulling Dan Dovetail back from his insanity.

The four children, Bert, Daisy, and Martha (a Marshlander whom Daisy had befriended at the orphanage) find out that Ma Grunter's orphanage is due for an inspection. If the inspector found Bert, a highly prized fugitive, they knew he would be recognized. They decide to escape before that happens. Bert and Roderick steal the keys, and the four hike through the cold to the Marshlands, led by Martha. They plan to meet the soldiers of the Ickabog Defence Brigade there, tell them their stories, and sway them to their side. When they reach the Marshlands, they realise that the Brigade has gone south for the winter. Succumbing to the cold, they fall unconscious. While they are unconscious, the real Ickabog carries them away. The four teenagers end up inside the Ickabog's cave. The Ickabog cooks them food from an abandoned food wagon. After Daisy talks to it, the Ickabog reveals that from it a new batch of Ickabogs will be "bornded". As the feelings experienced by the dying parent Ickabog influence those of its newborn brood, the Ickabog plans to eat the four during the bornding, to ensure that its children, which would normally only eat mushrooms, will become man eaters, to take revenge on and wipe out the humans, the cause of the near-extinction of the Ickabog race. In Chouxville, King Fred orders an Ickabog to be stuffed, and a ball to be given to celebrate the war. In the dungeons, the prisoners are arming themselves with kitchen knives and Dan Dovetail's chisels. Spittleworth, distracted with the problem of the ball and faking a stuffed Ickabog, fails to notice. Meanwhile, Daisy persuades the Ickabog not to eat them, but to reveal itself to the people and live amongst them, so that the people learn not to fear it. The group marches on Jeroboam, with the Ickabog handing out flowers to soldiers and citizens of the city. After overcoming their initial fear, they rally around the Ickabog, fuelled by resentment at having been lied to. After arming themselves (to protect the monster), they march on Chouxville. However, Basher John, having prospered under Lord Spittleworth's regime and realising the danger to it, steals a horse and rides ahead to warn him. Due to being held up, he arrives only as the Ickabog is approaching Chouxville. He breaks into the king’s apartments to deliver the news to Spittleworth, but is arrested, as Spittleworth refuses to believe him. Two spies deliver the same news minutes later. As Spittleworth prepares to investigate with Flapoon, he is confronted by the prisoners, who have escaped. They escape out the apartment, locking the exit, leaving King Fred to face the angry mob. As the Ickabog approaches Chouxville, Spittleworth goes to confront it with the Brigade. Despite Spittleworth’s orders to the contrary, when Flapoon sees the Ickabog's belly split, he fires his gun, believing that there are people inside controlling it. Bert jumps into the path of the bullet, determined to save the Ickabog at all costs. It hits his father's medal, saving him. The first Ickaboggle to be Bornded kills Flapoon, due to being Bornded in fear of his gun. However, the second Ickaboggle is Bornded kind, as Daisy is comforting the Ickabog as it dies. Spittleworth and the rest of the Brigade ride away. When Spittleworth reaches his mansion to escape with his gold, he is captured by Bert and Roderick – disguised as Scrumble and Withers, Spittleworth’s butler and groom – who had ridden ahead, freed Lady Eslanda, and bound Scrumble who is wrapped up on the floor.

Characters

• King Fred the Fearless: The inept, gullible ruler of Cornucopia
• Lord Spittleworth: King Fred's cunning, greedy right-hand man
• Lord Flapoon: Spittleworth's friend, equally corrupt
• Captain Roach: Spittleworth's brutal henchman, and Beamish's replacement as Head of the Royal Guard

The Beamishes:

• Major Beamish: Head of the Royal Guard
• Bertha Beamish: His wife, head pastry chef in the Palace
• Bert "Butterball" Beamish: Their son

The Dovetails:

• Dan Dovetail: A carpenter at the Palace
• Dora Dovetail: Head seamstress at the Palace
• Daisy Dovetail: Their daughter, and Bert's best friend

Side Characters:

• Lady Eslanda: A virtuous lady of the court, lusted after by Spittleworth
• Gordon Goodfellow: A captain in the army of Cornucopia, son of cheesemakers; unknown to him, Lady Eslanda is secretly in love with him.
• Millicent: Lady Eslanda's maid
• Hetty: a maid, after Lady Eslanda gave her money, Hetty married Hopkins, and Hetty Hopkins had twins
• Roderick Roach: Captain Roach's son and Bert's best friend after his fight with Daisy
• Private Prodd: a private that was supposed to kill Daisy Dovetail
• Ma Grunter: A brutal alcoholic who runs an orphanage in the North
• Basher John: Ma Grunter's violent deputy
• Herringbone: Chief Advisor
• Cankerby the footman: Spittleworth's greedy footman who spies and tells on citizens in exchange for money
• Martha: A girl from the Marshlands; Daisy's friend at the orphanage
• Otto Scrumble: Spittleworth's butler who impersonates Widow Buttons and Professor Fraudysham
• The Ickabog: A large creature as tall as two horses, with the power of human speech, and the ability to make fire, the last of its kind
• Nobby Buttons: A made up character made by Spittleworth

Audiobook

Audible released audiobook versions of The Ickabog in English, Italian, German, Spanish. Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Dutch, Simplified Chinese and Russian in November 2020. The English language version was narrated by Stephen Fry.

Reception

Jake Kerridge, for The Daily Telegraph, gave the book 3 out of 5 stars, saying "a fun but lightweight fairy tale that lacks Harry Potter's magic". Reviewing the first chapters following their original online release, Kelly Apter of The Scotsman reviewed it positively, praising Rowling's "lush descriptions" and "tantalising cliffhangers". Writing for The Times, Alex O'Connell also rated the novel positively, saying "cake and a monster is the escapism we all need", and rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

External links

• Official website