“Weird Al” Yankovic goes from “Amish Paradise” to kiddy career advice
When “Weird Al” Yankovic was a child, he was obsessed with the work of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. He’d head over to the local library, max out his card, and bring home all the books he could carry. Then, like a master forger in-training, he’d copy out the books in longhand, rhyme-by-rhyme, until he had them memorized.
Now the singer, screenwriter and polka-enthusiast can add children’s book author to his already stacked résumé. Yankovic’s first-ever picture book, When I Grow Up, tells the story of Billy, an eight-year-old with a particularly fanciful imagination. When he’s called on for show-and-tell, Billy regales his class with a rather unorthodox list of dream jobs, from snail trainer to gorilla masseuse. “I think there’s a pretty obvious Seuss-like quality to this book,” Yankovic says. “He definitely infused the spirit of this book.” (HarperCollinsCanada)