Neil Gaiman is cooking up a big bowl of Pirate Stew.
That’s the title of the fantasy author’s next literary project, a children’s book about a buccaneer who befriends a young brother and sister, Entertainment Weekly reports. The book will be illustrated by Chris Riddell, with whom Gaiman previously collaborated on the curiously titled Fortunately, the Milk.
The Guardian reports that the origin of the book was a poem Gaiman wrote on a scrap of paper about how to make a pirate stew. (We’re guessing rum and bay leaves are involved.)
“I kept the scrap of paper in my wallet as the years went by, and would look at it and feel guilty,” Gaiman said. “And then my son was two, and I thought I should write a book I can read to him when he’s older. I remembered the scrap of paper, and knew that it was time to tell that story.”
Pirate Stew follows two siblings who set sail with Long John McRon, a swashbuckler and “the most unusual babysitter you’ve ever seen.”
“What a pleasure it has been setting sail with Captain Gaiman on another of his amazing voyages,” Riddell said. “I loved assembling a pirate crew and enlisting some old friends from our previous adventure, Fortunately, the Milk.”
Young readers who want to accompany the pirate and his young friends on their nautical adventure will be able to do so when the book is published by HarperCollins imprint Quill Tree Books on Dec. 1.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
