I Am a Pole (and So Can You!)

"The sad thing is, I like it." Maurice Sendak

"The perfect gift to give a child or grandchild for their high school or college graduation. Also Father's Day. Also, other times." Stephen Colbert

"Starring a dopily earnest, bug-eyed pole seeking a purpose in life, Colbert's tongue-in-cheek debut picture book was born out of a segment with Maurice Sendak on the Colbert Report, in which the late author/illustrator decried the talentless individuals (particularly celebrities) creating children's books. The result: a patriotic parody of saccharine, over-earnest picture books. Colbert's deadpan humor traipses into the tactless as he riffs on singsong verse ('I maypoled for a month,/ Learning pagans aren't my type.../ I didn't cut it as a totem — / Me no smoke-um the peace pipe'), and the digital illustrations, unskilled by design, mock amateurish art. Pole's pursuits underscore that Colbert's adult fans will be the book's primary audience — like Go the F**k to Sleep, this is a not-for-children 'children's book' (Pole considers becoming a 'Gallup poll' and interns as a stripper pole before becoming an American flagpole). Still, Colbert affirms his place as a master of the kind of satire that, if you aren't paying attention, you might just miss is a joke. Agent: Dan Strone, Trident Media Group." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Stephen Colbert was The Daily Show's longest-running and most diverse correspondent. His personality, insight and overall rightness could only lead to The Colbert Report, a half-hour nightly platform for him to give his take on the issues of the day, and, more importantly, to tell you why everyone else's take is just plain wrong. The show has been hugely successful.