Ringo Starr is teaming with illustrator Ben Cort to set the lyrics of “Octopus Garden” to pictures for a children’s book. Simon & Schuster will publish the resulting work in October in England, with a U.S. release to follow in January 2014, the company announced.
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Starr wrote the whimsical Beatles tune (“I’d like to be under the sea/In an octopus’ garden with you”) while staying on comedian Peter Sellers’ yacht in 1968 off the coast of Sardinia.
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He was inspired to write the lyrics by the stories the boat’s captain told him about the sea creatures. The song subsequently appeared on The Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road.
The book will tell the story of five children who are taken on an underwater adventure by a friendly octopus.
Illustrator Ben Cort is best known for drawing Aliens Love Underpants. The book will include a CD that will feature an unheard portion of the song.
Simon & Schuster U.K. editor Ingrid Selberg called it the “perfect marriage of a truly child-friendly text, based on Ringo’s popular song, with illustrations that revel in the imaginative opportunities presented by the lyrics.”
Starr, 73, and one of the two surviving Beatles, added that the idea of a book gave him “great pleasure.”