TV host and author Stephen Colbert has inked a book deal with Grand Central Publishing for his children’s book, I Am a Pole (and So Can You!). Publication is set for May 8, 2012.

Here’s more from the publisher: “The book came about as a result of a two-part interview that Stephen Colbert did last month with legendary children’s book author, Maurice Sendak, on The Colbert Report. During the interview, Colbert gave viewers a preview of a children’s book he was in the midst of writing. The interview went viral and immediately became an internet sensation, with fans clamoring for copies of the book.”

Colbert quipped in the release: “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to write a children’s book. I hope the minutes you and your loved ones spend reading it are as fulfilling as the minutes I spent writing it.” Trident Media Group CEO Dan Strone and Dixon Talent agent James Dixon negotiated the deal with Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab.