Danny Brown surprised us, or at least those familiar with his foul mouth, by revealing that he was in the process of writing a Dr. Seuss-style children's book aiming to encourage black girls to appreciate themselves while promoting self-esteem. The emcee is hardly the first established musician to try his hand at children's literature, although usually those handling the pen could also live off their royalties forever so they have time to experiment with new things. Here are seven of the biggest musicians in recent memory that have taken time from their career of performing for adults to wrote for kids:
Julie Andrews
Andrews, originally a star in musical theater and eventually a superstar due to her role in musical films including Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, has one of the most successful second careers in being a children's author, where she's published more than 20 titles (albeit under her married name Julie Andrews Edwards). Many of her fantasy titles sound like something right out of a Doctor Who episode, such as the often cited The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, although the plot seems all too similar to another British classic: Three children by the last name of POTTER live a totally ordinary life before they go to the ZOO and their lives get flipped for the weirder. It's a long shot lawsuit-wise but maybe Dame Andrews can score a Twitter shout out from J.K. Rowling.
David Bowie
David Bowie has always been a step ahead of the curve and that continued during 2004 with the release of his Musical Storyland, a book showcasing the interactive activity that pervades music videos and concerts a decade later. Rather than aim this wonderful technology at his adult audience however, he packaged it for children so that he he could ensure a new era of fans would continue to buy his records well into his old age. Okay, so maybe Storyland was just a charming illustrated book featuring a sing-along CD as well.
Madonna
The English Roses is probably the second most well known book written by Madonna, and you would think that Callaway would think twice before offering a five-book deal to a performer notorious for her coffee table book Sex, which featured erotic photos of herself (and Vanilla Ice). A dozen years after that spectacle, the pop star seemed to have mellowed out and delivered The English Roses, an illustrated book that dissuades young people from buying into gossip and instead to embrace newcomers. Possibly for the first time ever, even the Catholic Church could get behind a work by Madge.
Paul McCartney
We've actually had the chance to read Paul McCartney's High In The Clouds...and we were traumatized a short way in. The protagonist Wirral, a squirrel, witnesses his mother getting crushed by a bulldozer as those pesky humans build a hosting development over his woodland home. Remember how much you cried when Bambi's mother got shot? At least that was quick. Imagine the horror of watching your mother get steamrolled by a bulldozer, perhaps looking up just long enough to reach out a tragic paw before disappearing under the beast. Sir McCartney realizes the best time to infect kids with politics is while they're young...or at least that's what this novella seems like, as Wirral and his friends attempt to build a human-less utopia.
Dolly Parton
Many may know the Dolly Parton album Coat of Many Colors as well as the single of the same name but few may realize that the young girl wearing the title coat on the cover of the album was based on the performer herself, and that the title was based on an actual patchwork coat that Parton owned during her youth. The story shares a similar theme to that of Madonna's first children's book (although it was published much earlier), as the protagonist draws the ire of bullies for her raggedy jacket. The ultimate morale is to never be ashamed of yourself for what you are, even in the face of the shallow-minded. Brown would approve.
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is another rock star more notorious for his writings on family relations than renowned-he famously claimed in his biography to have mixed his father's ashes with cocaine before, uh, ingesting. This tale is well-suited for a younger audience however, detailing the guitarist's relationship with his grandfather Theordore Augustus "Gus" Dupree, a big band musician and how he came upon his first guitar. The Rolling Stone had such fond memories of his grandfather that he named his daughter Theodora Dupree Richards. She went on to illustrate the story.
Sting
The Police bassist/solo star must have read McCartney's attempt at swaying kids into treating the environment right and decided that he could be a tad more subtle while getting the message across. He teamed up with illustrator Hugh Whyte to create a modern adaptation of the tale of Noah's Ark, built upon the lyrics of his 1987 track "Rock Steady." You don't have to be religiously-minded to appreciate what Sting does here with the message.
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