Paul McCartney to narrate Hey Grandude! audiobook

Paul McCartney will narrate the audiobook edition of his upcoming picture book, www.thebookseller.com/news/paul-mccartney-pens-picture-book-869401">Hey Grandude! (Puffin), which is inspired by his experiences of being a grandfather.

The musician has also composed some original music for the audiobook, which will be released on 5th September along with the hardback. 

Hey Grandude! is about a magical grandfather - the eponymous Grandude - and his four grandchildren, and is described by Puffin as being both a heartwarming family story and an adventure tale with a twist of magic.

The former Beatle said: “I’ve got eight grandchildren and they’re all beautiful and one day one of them said to me “Hey Grandude!”. I said “What?” and I thought, I kind of like that, so from then on I was kind of known as Grandude. So I thought, you know what, it’s actually a nice idea for a book, so I started to write some stories, and then I talked to the book publishers and they liked what I was doing.

“So basically it’s about a character called Grandude who represents grandfathers everywhere. He has four grandchildren and he calls them 'chillers'. They love him and they go on adventures with him and he’s kind of magical, so you’ll see that in the book. I wanted to write it for grandparents everywhere – and the kids – so it gives you something to read to the grandkids at bedtime.”

Penguin Random House Children’s m.d. Francesca Dow and Random House Children’s Books president and publisher Barbara Marcus acquired world rights from Richard Ewbank at MPL Communications. The book will be illustrated by Kathryn Durst.