The Pied Piper pipes the village free of rats, and when the villagers refuse to pay him for the service he exacts a terrible revenge.

With this first book in Russell Brand’s Trickster Tales series, the famed comedian, actor, and bestselling author delivers a hilarious retelling of an old fairytale favorite that will appeal to adults and children alike. Once upon a time, long ago, in a time that seemed, to those present, exactly like now except their teeth weren’t so clean and more things were wooden, there was a town called Hamelin. The people of Hamelin were a pompous bunch who loved themselves and their town so much that if it were possible they would have spent all day zipped up in a space suit smelling their own farts. But space suits hadn’t been invented yet so they couldn’t. Then one day without warning a gang of rats bowled into the town and began causing a right rumpus… So begins Russell Brand’s wildly funny and surprisingly wise retelling of the classic tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Whether you’re a kid or a grown-up kid, you’ll be chuckling the whole way through this zany story that bypasses Brand’s more adult humor for the outrageous, the madcap, and the just plain silly. Maybe you’ve heard about the Pied Piper before, with his strange music and those pompous townspeople and pesky rats. Or maybe you haven’t. But one thing is for sure: you’ve never heard it quite like this.

Through a bold palette, the legend of the Pied Piper is enlivened artfully reminding children to keep their promises.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin - A Child's Story. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages, the earliest references describing a piper, dressed in multicolored ("pied") clothing, who was a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the citizens refuse to pay for this service, he retaliates by using his instrument's magical power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. This version of the story spread as folklore and has appeared in the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, and Robert Browning, among others.

The town of Hamelin is overrun with rats, but when the Pied Piper who gets rid of them is refused payment he takes the children away from their greedy parents.

A pied piper rids the city of Hamelin of rats in this charming retelling of the classic tale.

The Pied Piper pipes the vilage free of rats, and when the villagers refuse to pay him for the service he exacts a terrible revenge.