Paul McCartney will publish a children’s book: ‘Hey, Grandude!’

Paul McCartney, the legendary Beatle, is writing his second children’s book: “Hey, Grandude!”

Although the title is a riff on one of his songs, “Hey, Jude,” the idea was actually inspired by one of McCartney’s grandchildren — he has eight — who once greeted him with “Hey, Grandude!”

“Hey Grandude!” is about a magical grandfather, the Guardian reports. McCartney explained, “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.”

McCartney’s “Hey, Grandude” will be published worldwide in September 2019; its American publisher will be Random House Books for Young Readers.

In a video announcing the book, McCartney explains that his grandchildren started calling him “Grandude,” a joking reference to the Beatles song “Hey Jude.” McCartney wrote the song for Julian Lennon (it started as “Hey Jules”) to comfort the boy when his father, John Lennon, was divorcing his mother, Cynthia.

Penguin, the book’s U.K. publisher, describes “Hey, Grandude” as “an action-packed adventure story with a wonderful wind-down-to-bedtime ending.”

“Meet Grandude, an intrepid explorer grandfather, and his four grandkids,” the publisher’s description reads. “With his magical colourful postcards, Grandude whisks his grandchildren off on incredible adventures. Join them as they ride flying fish, dodge stampedes, and escape avalanches.”

The book is illustrated by Kathryn Durst, a Canadian artist whose previous books include “Vlad, the World’s Worst Vampire” and “Float, Flutter.”

“Hey, Grandude” is McCartney’s second children’s book. He co-wrote “High in the Clouds,” about a squirrel in search of a tropical animal sanctuary, with Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh; the book was published in 2005.