"Glee's" Chris Colfer releases a children's book

(CBS/AP) "Glee" star Chris Colfer has written a children's novel called "The Land of Stories" that is now in stores.

The 22-year-old's first book is about twins Connor and Alex, who find themselves sucked into their favorite book of fairy tales, suddenly face-to-face with the characters they grew up reading about.

Colfer said he came up with the idea as an inquisitive child who questioned the fairy tales his mother would read to him.

"I used to ask, 'Mommy, who's the man in the mirror? Why's he talking to the evil queen? Why's she so evil? Why does she hate Snow White so much?'

"I just tried to clarify the questions that I had as a kid," he said.

If the book were adapted into a movie he would love for Meryl Streep to play the various fairy-tale characters.

"I think ultimately I would love to see Meryl Streep play every role just because I think. 'Who would not want to go see that movie? Who would not want to go see Meryl Streep playing The Big Bad Wolf or Red Riding Hood?' I mean it would be great."

Colfer said he wrote the book last summer during the "Glee" world tour.

"I was writing constantly in my hotel room and under the stage during performances even, and I'd be singing, 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and I'd think of something really witty for Connor to say. Had to run downstairs to the changing booth, type it into my computer, run off and do 'Single Ladies' in leotard. It was an interesting summer. I don't think I've mentally recovered from that time."

There's already a deal to write a sequel to "The Land of Stories" in which Alex and Connor will be older.

He also has written a screenplay for a psychological drama that he hopes to star in, and he's adapted a pilot for the Disney Channel based on Florence Laughlin's children's book "The Little Leftover Witch."

A film he wrote and starred in, called "Struck by Lightning,"  debuted at this year's Tribeca Film Festival and  will hit theaters in December.