Bruce Springsteen writes children's book

Bruce Springsteen is the latest rocker to turn out a title for the children's book market.

The Boss joins the ranks of Madonna, Jimmy Buffett and Carly Simon with Outlaw Pete, to be published by Simon & Schuster on Nov. 4.

Based on a song from Springsteen's 2009 Working on a Dream album, Outlaw Pete is "essentially the story of a man trying to outlive and outrun his sins," Springsteen says. Or, in this case, a bank-robbing baby.

The song and the book were inspired by another Simon & Schuster book, 1950's Brave Cowboy Bill, that Springsteen's mother read to him when he was a child.

Illustrator Frank Caruso came up with the idea of turning Outlaw Pete into a book and contributed the artwork that accompanies Springsteen's lyrics.

"When Bruce wrote Outlaw Pete, he didn't just write a great song, he created a great character," Caruso says in a news release. "The first time I heard the song this book played out in my head. Like Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Dorothy Gale and, for me, even Popeye, Outaw Pete cuts deep into the folklore of our country and weaves its way into the fabric of the great American literary characters."

There's no word on whether Outlaw Pete's gang includes Wild Billy, Hazy Davy or Crazy Janey from Spirit in the Night.