Madonna condemns 'vapid and vacant' children's books

Madonna has revealed that her forthcoming children's books will be moral tales based on the cabbala, the ancient Jewish mystical tradition centred around interpretations of the Old Testament.

In an interview for the music channel VH-1 she condemned the shallow nature of most children's books, explaining that the suggestion for her project came from the teacher with whom she has been studying the cabbala for seven years.

She spotted the lack of moral children's books when reading to her first child, Lourdes. "Now I'm starting to read to my son, but I couldn't believe how vapid and vacant and empty all the stories were," she told the interviewer.

"There were no lessons, just all about princesses and like the beautiful prince arrives and he takes her for his wife and nothing happens, no efforts are made. Nobody asks her what her opinion is... I didn't see anybody struggling for things."

The first of her five illustrated books, for children of six and upwards, is called The English Roses, and will be published by Penguin in September.