The words of a book can often be like the lyrics of a song – so why not the other way round?
This was what occured to designer Jonathan Beacher one day as he read his daughter some nursery rhymes as bedtime.
He says: “As I said the words aloud I suddenly wondered: ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we read or sang our favourite pop song lyrics together instead?’.”
So he decided to try and make it happen, pitching the concept to music publisher Sony/ATV. They loved the idea – and gave him the official song license to create children’s books from some of the biggest hits of all time.
Now he’s just launched Pop Reads, a set of board books with colourful illustrations alongside the words to songs his children love.
The project is currently a Kickstarter so he is looking for people to pledge to buy one (or more) of the titles in order to get them printed and sold.
You can choose from Cyndi Lauper classic Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Can I Kick It? by A Tribe Called Quest, Race For The Prize by Flaming Lips and ABC by The Jackson 5. There’s also the ultimate festival pop song – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.
The designs are based around the song lyrics and vibe, with Can I Kick It? featuring a tribe of graffiti characters.
Each book can be yours in time for Christmas for a pledge of £7 or more – or pledge £11 to get a matching limited edition vinyl record of the song, re-recorded by a group of musicians with a young audience in mind.
You can find out more and support the Kickstarter appeal (which ends on Wednesday 14 November 2018) here
Books with Baby 
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