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Pop star Madonna turns hand to children’s books
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Tuesday, March 4, 2003
London (REUTERS) — She’s done music, film and an explicit sex book that raised more than a few eyebrows. Now Madonna is branching out into children’s books, signing a deal with Penguin to publish five fables.
The raunchy pop star’s first book, “The English Roses,” will be published in September, kicking off a series of stories written by the mother of two in the style of the children’s classic “The Little Prince,” Penguin said Monday.
The children’s books are a stark contrast to the pop queen’s previous publishing effort, “Sex,” which featured x-rated nude poses of the star and became a bestseller in the early 1990s.
However, the 44-year-old entertainer has attempted to tone down her risqué image since her marriage to 34-year-old filmmaker Guy Ritchie, the father of her son Rocco.
After establishing a hugely successful pop career, Madonna has also turned her hand to films, but with less success. Her latest film “Swept Away” bombed at the U.S. box office.
Penguin did not reveal how much it was paying Madonna for the books, which will be pitched at children of six and over. However, it said Madonna had already written the five books and each would feature illustrations by a well-known artist.
Like the hit Harry Potter series, which follows the fortunes of a boy wizard, Penguin hopes Madonna’s new books will also appeal to adults. However, the publisher was keeping the storyline tightly under wraps until its launch.
“It will be a story with a moral,” said Majorie Scardino, the chief executive of Penguin’s parent company Pearson.
Penguin said the five children’s books would be published by independent imprint Callaway Editions and distributed by Penguin in the United States. Elsewhere, the books will be published under Pearson’s children’s imprint Puffin, whose best-selling authors include Roald Dahl and Raymond Briggs.
