Stephen Colbert to show the flag in new children's book

Comedian Stephen Colbert poses for photos to celebrate the launch of his new Ben & Jerry's ice cream AmeriCone Dream at the Dream Hotel on March 5, 2007, in New York.

/ Getty Images/Scott Wintrow

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Talk-show host and comedian Stephen Colbert plans to rally readers 'round the flagpole.

Grand Central Publishing said Tuesday that it will publish Colbert's children's book, "I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)" on May 8.

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In a two-part "Colbert Report" segment that aired last month, Colbert previewed the book with "Where the Wild Things Are" author Maurice Sendak.

Claiming he was looking to "cash in" on celebrity children's books, Colbert penned an illustrated story about a flag pole's quest for identity.

Sendak called the book "terribly ordinary," but acknowledged, "The sad thing is, I like it.''

In a statement, Colbert said: "I hope the minutes you and your loved ones spend reading it are as fulfilling as the minutes I spent writing it."

Grand Central previously published Colbert's 2007 bestseller "I Am America (And So Can You!)." It will also publish his next book, "America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't" in October.

After a two-episode hiatus due to his ailing mother, Colbert returned to "The Report" on Monday.