Comedian-turned-political activist Russell Brand has revealed that he’s writing a series of children’s books entitled ‘Russell Brand’s Trickster Tales’ in a video uploaded to YouTube.
Even though the vid was shared on 1 April, Russell doesn’t seem to be joking as he explains the basic premise of the stories, revealing that he’s enlisted the help of ‘Observer’ cartoonist and illustrator Chris Riddell.
Would you buy Russ's books for your kids?
The clip includes an extract from his first story ‘The Pied Piper Of Hamelin’ and Russell states that his stories will be reworkings of familiar classics, adding that he believes “them to be the code to unlock aspects of our consciousness and to affect and impact the way we see the world”.
While this statement may seem like a bold and outlandish thought, Russ’s point actually echoes the work of loads of academics who have examined the genre.
We never realised our Literature degree would come in so handy - but Russ’s seemingly impressive display of language gymnastics is basically just a reworking of a bunch of common theories on fairy tales.
Sorry to break it to you Russell, but we’ve heard these ideas before.
While this is the first time the comedian has attempted writing for kids, Russell has published two autobiographies and was previously employed by The Guardian as a sports columnist.
There’s no word yet on when the stories will be released but the Essex-born comedian is clutching a pretty huge stack of tales in the clip.