Rowling in London, Sept. 27, 2012 (Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)
Author J.K. Rowling, whose recent foray into adult book publishing was widely panned, says her next book will be for children.
"I think probably the next thing I write, or the next thing I publish, will be for children," Rowling told attendees at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in England on Sunday.
The "Harry Potter" writer said she has a number of ideas on her laptop for her next book, which she said would be aimed at younger children than the seven-book series about a young wizard and his evil-conquering cohorts at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"I have a lot of things on my laptop currently, including a couple of things for children—for a slightly younger age group than 'Harry Potter' was aimed at—which are nearly done and will, I think, be the next thing I publish," Rowling said. "I have run them by my children and they seem to like them, which is always a good sign."
Rowling's latest book, "The Casual Vacancy," underwhelmed critics when it was released last month.
"Unfortunately," The New York Times said, "the real-life world she has limned in these pages is so willfully banal, so depressingly clichéd that 'The Casual Vacancy' is not only disappointing—it's dull."
The Guardian called it a "determinedly unadventurous English novel."
"The magic simply isn't there," the Daily News said. "Indeed, the spell has been broken."
In a recent interview with the BBC, Rowling would not rule out another book set in Voldemort-ville. But as far as "Harry's story is concerned," Rowling said, "I'm done."