Madonna Book Due in Fall

Madonna's The English Roses will be published on September 15th. The first in a five-volume series of children's books is expected to be the widest, simultaneous multi-language book release in publishing history; in addition to the U.S. and U.K., the book will be published in more than 100 countries, including Lithuania, Italy, France, Thailand, and will appear in forty-two different languages.

Each of the five books will feature Madonna's text paired with a different illustrator. The identity of the first artist will not be revealed until the book's release date. The title and pub date for the second book will be announced on the day of Roses' release.

The book, published by Callaway Editions, will have an initial print run of 400,000 copies in the U.S. "It's hardly news that Madonna knows how to communicate," said Callaway publisher and editor Nicholas Callaway. "Now we will have a new generation throughout the world that will know Madonna as an inspiring storyteller."

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

More Song Stories entries »

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