The English Roses, a children's book penned by pop diva Madonna, will hit Shanghai bookstore in a bilingual version on September 15, the day of its worldwide release.

This is probably the first time a Western book will hit the local market simultaneously with its global release, suggesting the importance of the Chinese market and its readiness to accept imported culture.

"We believe the book will find a lot of readers here," said Lu Peiqing, purchasing manager for Shanghai Century Scholar Books Co Ltd, one of the biggest bookstore chains in the city. "We've arranged a whole package of promotion events for the book on the launch day."

Scholar Bookstores have purchased 2,000 copies for its first month of sales. Lu said that's a large number for any book. The store only ordered 600 copies of Hilary Clinton's Living History, which enjoyed huge sales in the United States.

Local readers are curious about the book.

"By no stretch of the imagination could I picture her telling fairy tales. Not her. She's just too much related to cone bras, crucifixes and those kind of things," said Dai Weiqi, a local Madonna fan who said he will buy a copy of the book once it is on the market.

"The interesting thing is that most people doubt Madonna's ability to pen an innocent children's book. But it acts as a stimulus to pique curiosity in children and adults alike," said Li Shu, editor of the Chinese-version of the book with Liaoning Education Press.

The Liaoning Province-based publishing house bought the copyright for the book from Callaway Editions in May and adopted the Chinese translation from Taiwan Province's copy to meet its deadline.

Financial details of the book deal were not disclosed.

Li says the Chinese version has eight more pages than the English version because it's been printed in two languages. Other than that, there's absolutely no difference. The cover of the book also uses a matte laminated jacket with a special "lip gloss" effect.

The English Roses will be released in 42 languages in more than 100 countries and regions.

The launch is billed as the largest ever "simultaneous multi-language release," presumably meaning no book, not even a Harry Potter installment, has ever been translated into as many tongues at the same time as Madonna's tome.

The book, about "feeling green with envy, blue with loneliness, pink with embarrassment, purple with rage and how to find true-blue friends," is the first of five illustrated storybooks created by the Material Girl. Renowned fashion artist, Jeffrey Fulvimari, complements Madonna's story with colorful illustrations.

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