Andy Lee surprises nephew with children's picture book, "Do Not Open This Book"

Australian comedian and radio superstar Andy Lee has pulled off the most heart-warming stunt for his sister and her one-year-old son, George. He has released a children’s picture book called “Do Not Open This Book,” as a birthday gift for his nephew.

Andy appeared on “The Project” on Wednesday night and explained how the book, meant to be a one-off surprise for his sister, Alex Miles, ended up being a published work. “It came about in strange circumstances because I wanted to surprise my sister. I’ve got a nephew, George, who’s about to turn one. I thought writing a book for him as his birthday present would be a nice thing to do,” Lee said.

“Oh, stop it,” gushed “The Project” co-host Carrie Bickmore. Then Lee explained that he wrote the book, gave it to his best friend who is a kid’s books publisher, and asked him if he could make just one copy for Lee. Andy’s friend called him a few weeks later and said, “I asked the other publishers and they’d like to print this.” Hearing this, Andy denied and asked his friend to just make one copy for him.

But Lee’s friend thought he had his hands on gold. He asked Lee if he could be the one to print it. Lee finally gave him the green signal but asked him not to take any actions until he had surprised Alex and George. “We did manage to surprise my sister. It was little George’s birthday and we managed to set up a book store with the book in it and as I was taking my sister out to lunch I managed to show her the surprise,” Andy exclaimed.

The title, “Do Not Open This Book,” demands attention and is a well-thought one. Next to the title, a lanky-legged blue alien holds up a sign reinforcing the message: "Go Read Something Else." Through the simple recital, the reader is introduced to a series of emotions through a gradually more infuriated main character, whose tone and commentary mirrors how people, young and old, might feel as we get more and more enraged.

“Do Not Open This Book” has been sold into Iceland, China, USA, Germany, Croatia and Britain and will be taken to the Frankfurt Book Fair next month.

Here is a clip of Andy talking about his new book.