Madonna takes up pen as children's author

Singer, actor, now writer – Madonna has taken up the pen.

Publishers Penguin announced today that the singer has written five illustrated story books for young readers aged six and above.

The first title, The English Roses, will be published in hardcover in September and distributed simultaneously worldwide, Penguin said.

“Madonna is an artist with a universal appeal and these books will touch children of all backgrounds everywhere in the world,” said chairman and chief executive John Makinson.

Penguin Group has bought the English language rights to the five books, each of which will feature a different celebrated illustrator, from Callaway Editions, the New York-based publisher of illustrated books.

Nicholas Callaway, founder and publisher of Callaway Editions, said the singer “has drawn on a lifelong passion for and deep familiarity with literature and children’s books to create contemporary classics that combine great storytelling with ravishing art.

“With these books, Madonna has accomplished something rare and wonderful. Despite the astonishing range and variety of her stories, they all evoke the secret that the red fox shares with the Little Prince: ‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.”’