The author of Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling will launch a new website of Harry Potter content for the families and children who need “a bit of magic” while staying at home due to the coronavirus crisis.
As an initiative to bring some entertainment for people who stay at home during the pandemic, Ms Rowling said in her tweet on Wednesday (1 April), “Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch harrypotterathome.com.”
Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch https://t.co/cPg0dZpexB pic.twitter.com/i0ZjTplVoU
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2020
“I hope these initiatives will give children, and even adults, a happy distraction during their enforced stay at home time,” Ms Rowling told Good Morning America.
The new website called ‘Harry Potter At Home’ will feature online collection of child-friendly activities, videos, puzzles, illustrations, quizzes, creative ideas, articles, and much more for its readers to keep them “occupied for hours on end”, according to the website WizardingWorld.
Meanwhile, the first book in the Harry Potter series – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – will be provided free access in the form of e-book and audiobook on its website for all readers until the end of April.
The website also said in its introductory post that it has collaborated with partners at Audible, Bloomsbury, OverDrive, Pottermore Publishing, and Scholastic to “help children, parents, carers and teachers add a touch of Harry Potter magic” to their daily lives.
“We’ll be updating the activities, quizzes, articles and everything else regularly to create an ever-evolving collection of new resources that are easy for parents, teachers and carers of children to find and access,” the website read.
Additionally, Ms Rowling will also relax the licensing fees of Harry Potter books, allowing teachers and educators to post videos of them reading Harry Potter books for the children who stay at home due to schools closure.
Delighted to help teachers reach kids at home by relaxing the usual licence required to post videos of themselves reading Harry Potter books. Go to https://t.co/77d90pkiYK to find the guidelines. Be well, everyone. More soon! 💫#HarryPotterAtHome
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 20, 2020
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, many organisations have initiated digital reading platform for the readers and parents who need to work while keeping their children entertainment. It was earlier reported that Amazon-owned Audible will provide hundreds of audiobook for children and family to stream stories for free.
On its website, it was stated that children everywhere will have the privilege to stream a large collection of stories. The stories that were made free were available in six languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Italian.
There are six categories of stories to cater to different stages and needs, namely “Littlest Listeners”, “Elementary”, “Tween”, “Teen”, “Literary Classics”, and “Folk & Fairy Tales for All”.
To make this particular program even more accessible, Audible has eliminated all log-in or sign-up requirements. Customers will only have to select an audiobook and click “Start Listening” without the need to provide email, password, and any credit card information. All the available titles can be accessed on desktops, laptops, phones, or tablets.
