Keith Richards Gus & Me 99 percent less terrifying than the book he originally wanted to make

As you might have read earlier this week, Keith Richards has announced that he’s diving into the world of children’s literature, this giving him something in common with the likes of Madonna, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney.

The Rolling Stones guitarist is about to publish Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar. Illustrations from the book will be done by his daughter, Theodora Dupree Richards.

Gus & Me has Richards, a five-time grandpa, reminiscing about his relationship with his own grandfather, Theodore Augustus Dupree, who played in jazz bands. It was Dupree who turned Richards on to music.

Getting the book green-lighted was doubly sweet for Richards because an earlier children’s story he pitched was turned down by numerous publishers. Executives argued that children would be scared completely shitless by his bedtime tale That Thing That Lives in the Closet with Mouths for Eyes.