The comedy of Steve Martin was a big part of my childhood. My brother and I spent hours listening to the Let's Get Small album and Martin's 1978 King Tut song totally cracked us up. To this day, Steve Martin is one of my all-time favorite performers and in my opinion, The Jerk is one of the funniest movies every made.

Ellie may not ever understand what was so funny about A Wild and Crazy Guy, but she now has another option for appreciating the offbeat comedy of Steve Martin - his new children's book, The Alphabet From A to Y, With Bonus Letter Z.

Unlike a lot of celebrities who write children's books, Martin doesn't have kids. So, why would a 62-year-old fatherless man suddenly decide to add 'children's author' to his already impressive resume? He doesn't know. "I'm not sure why I did this. I don't know why an alphabet book popped into my head," he says. "My idea was to write these rhyming couplets with the craziest images I could possibly think up, and then have Roz illustrate them." Roz is New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, with whom he collaborated on the book.

An excerpt from the book: "H" ("Henrietta the hare wore a habit in heaven/Her hairdo hid hunchbacks: one hundred and seven") and "N" ("Needle-nosed Nigel won nine kinds of knockwurst/By winning a contest to see who could knock wurst").

The book, published by Flying Dolphin Press, is available now and even though Ellie is a bit old for an alphabet book, I think she will still find it entertaining.