On Tuesday, The Decemberists lead singer Colin Meloy announced he’ll publish a middle-grade novel called The Whiz Mob And The Grenadine Kid, set for an October 24 publication. If the title isn’t whimsical enough for you, Publisher’s Weekly reported last year that the novel will follow “an impressionable young American who falls in with a ragtag group of pickpockets in 1961 France.”
For The Whiz Mob, Meloy is once again collaborating with bestselling author and illustrator (and his wife) Carson Ellis. Here’s her gorgeous cover art:
The husband-wife team has previously worked together on the bestselling children’s book series The Wildwood Chronicles. Ellis recently won a Caldecott Honor, the children’s literature award, for her 2016 book Du Iz Tak? Last year, she was also nominated for a Grammy for her design on The Decemberists’ album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World.
This announcement follows last year’s news that the pair was working on a children’s book about Pete Seeger. The Golden Thread, set to arrive this summer, is a picture book and biography of the late folk singer and activist.