Putnam Books for Young Readers announced that Grammy award-winning music star Pharrell Williams will be signing up for four picture books, which have been inspired by his hit song 'Happy.'
Taking on a cheerful spin to such books, the first print run will be rolling out 250,000 'Happy' copies.This first book will include images of joyful children from all over the world, showing readers the essence of being happy.
"I'm humbled by the global success of 'Happy,' but especially in awe of the song's young fans," Pharrell shared. "My collaboration with Penguin allows me to continue a dialogue with these children in a fresh, new way. We're both committed to feeding the curiosity of young minds with imagination."
The U.S. publisher's newest recruit has already bagged 10 Grammys including Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video for 'Happy', which was included in the official soundtrack of 'Despicable Me 2.'
The track was also nominated in the best original song category for the Oscars in 2014, although it lost to Frozen’s ‘Let It Go.’
Moreover, 'Happy' soared to the top spot of the Hot 100 in March 2014 and reigned for 10 consecutive weeks. The song also was recognized as the most downloaded single in United Kingdom in September 2014.
Pharrell was acknowledged for making the world’s first-ever music video that went on for 24 hours to accompany the song, later including the track for his solo album, ‘Girl.’
During his interview with Oprah in 2014, Pharrell was clearly touched after he was shown a montage of clips that people all over the world recorded as they danced to his song.
“It's overwhelming because it's like, I love what I do and I just appreciate the fact that people have believed in me for so long that I could make it to this point to feel that,” Pharrell shared.
With the first book 'Happy' to be published on September 22, three more books are yet to be prepared and issued.
Putnam Books has gained considerable popularity for teaming up with Grammy award-winners and generating inspirational works. Dolly Parton's children's book titled 'I Am A Rainbow' was published by Putnam along with her 'Dream More' book which sought to reach out to readers to " dream more, learn more, care more, and be more."
