As in Pete Doherty. In a book for children.
Popjustice has taken the classic Roger Hargreaves Mr. Men and Little Miss books as inspiration for Popjustice Idols, a line of popstar biographies for children.
[We got a few of the Hargreaves books, partly because my wife remembered them from her childhood. But for most of them, the stories/lessons were pretty cynical and antisocial. And some--like everyone in town ganging up and exacting their revenge on Little Miss Naughty--were downright cruel. So maybe popstars are no worse a role model for our kids after all. ]
First up this spring was A Girl Called Madonna ["One day Madonna drank a special potion called 'bitter'? it turned her into an English lady!"], A Boy Called Marshall ["Marshall once lived in a very special house - it was on wheels!"], and, well, the other two were about Robbie Williams and Take That, so who cares?
But come September, there will be four new editions, A Boy Called Elton [which should probably be titled A Boy Called Reginald, but hey], A Boy Called Michael, A Girl Called Britney...and A Boy Called Pete. They're available for pre-order on Amazon UK. And like the Mr. Men books, they're only a few bucks. Well, £3.99 to be exact; admittedly, it's more than grabbing a copy of Little Miss Helpful at Borders.
Popjustice Idols [popjustice.com, via hugo, and thanks to dt reader dennis for the heads up]
Pre-order A Boy Called Pete for £3.99 or see See all the Popjustice Idol titles at Amazon.co.uk [amazon uk]
