He’s written thousands of songs but at age of 76, Paul McCartney has penned his first book for children and become a real-life Paperback Writer.
The former Beatle and Wings founder was inspired to create Hey Grandude! by his relationship with his own eight grandchildren, who could probably claim to have the coolest grandparent on the planet.
The story centres around an adventurous OAP who whisks his grandkids off on intrepid trips with the help of some special postcards.
Paul said: “They’re all beautiful and one day one of them said to me ‘Hey Grandude!’. I said ‘What?’ and I thought, I kind of like that, so from then on I was kind of known as Grandude.
“So I thought, you know what, it’s actually a nice idea for a book, so I started to write some stories, and then I talked to the book publishers and they liked what I was doing.
“Basically it’s about a character called Grandude who represents grandfathers everywhere. He has four grandchildren and he calls them ‘Chillers’. They love him and they go on adventures with him and he’s kind of magical.
“I wanted to write it for grandparents everywhere – and the kids – so it gives you something to read to the grandkids at bed time.”
While Paul is also an accomplished painter, he had a little help from his friend (couldn’t resist the pun!) Kathryn Durst, a Canadian illustrator who created the lively artwork.
She said: “I am thrilled to be able to create the illustrations for Hey Grandude! because I just love adventure stories with a touch of magic! This story especially resonated with me because I have wonderful childhood memories of my dad taking my siblings and me on exciting adventures, just like Grandude does in the book.
“It has been such a treat to collaborate with such an inspiring and accomplished artist.”
You’ll have to wait a little while before you can enjoy this lovely however. Hey Grandude! won’t be published until September 2019. A perfect Christmas present for next year!
Hey Grandude! by Paul McCartney and Kathryn Durst. £12.99 (hardback), Puffin. You can preorder your copy from Amazon
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This is pretty fantastic news. I really hope it turns out great. I very badly want it to be a good one.
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Us too! We have seen some woeful ‘big name’ offerings but sometimes they are a success, like David Walliams or Tom Fletcher for example.
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