To think that Colin Meloy hasn’t already written some tome based on European folklore already is hard to believe but it appears that his first attempt at the written word will be in the form of a children’s book. Once again Meloy is collaborating with wife Carson Ellis (who does all the art work for The Decemberists albums) to produce a book entitled The Unfortunate Demise of Whitley Rackham. Ellis goes on to say “It’s been in the works for years but it’s completion seems to be on the horizon.” Which has led some to speculate that it is the book she discussed with Paste Magazine back in October of 2006 concerning a “talking cat who lives in turn-of-the-century Butte, Mont.” and has something to do with a pile of dead turks apparently.

With Meloy’s knack for story telling and Carson’s artistic abilities this might just turn out to be something quite interesting.