Russell Brand has come a long way from being the ex-Mr. Katy Perry: the actor-comedian has just announced that he will be writing a series of children's books "to change the way that children view the world"!

According to Time Magazine, he signed a deal with Atria Books for this new series of Booky Wooks, and the series will be called "Russell Brand's Trickster Tales." The first of the series, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," will be out on Nov. 11.

And, according to The Guardian, the books will be illustrated by Chris Riddell.

Brand made the announcement on his YouTube channel today, and he also read an excerpt from the premiere book.

"Once upon a time, long ago, in a time that seemed to those present exactly like now, except their teeth weren't so clean, and more things were wooden, there was a town called Hamelin," he begins. "The clock made its sixth chime. 'Now it's six,' said the glint-eyed piper. A rat that was eating his discarded ham sandwich looked up, fearfully. All the rats paused. The piper silently drew in a long breath through his long nose. The glint-eyed piper knew that each breath we take is borrowed. The glint-eyed piper knew that all things are connected, the clouds, the people, the rats, the pipe, the music. All things are connected by invisible threads. The people of the town didn't know that, for they only cared about things they could see and eat and get prizes for."

In 2004, Brand achieved notoriety as the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth, a Big Brother spin-off. In 2007, he had his first major film role in St Trinian's. In 2008, he had a major role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall; the film led to a starring role in Get Him to the Greek (2010). He also worked as a voice actor in the animated films Despicable Me (2010), Hop (2011), and Despicable Me 2 (2013). He played the title character of the 2011 film Arthur. Brand has received significant media coverage for controversies such as his dismissal from MTV, his controversial behavior as a presenter at various award ceremonies, and his drug use. In 2008, he resigned from the BBC following prank calls he made to actor Andrew Sachs on The Russell Brand Show. He has incorporated his drug use, alcoholism, and promiscuity into his comedic material.