FOR more than three decades, the psychedelic Beatles film Yellow Submarine has delighted audiences across the globe.

Now the epic, if somewhat bizarre tale of the Fab Four stopping the evil Blue Meanies invading Pepperland and ridding the world of music, is set to be made into a picture book for children.

And, in a fitting tribute to the band's home city, its launch will be held at Liverpool's Mathew Street Festival later this summer.

Yesterday, Beatles record producers Apple Corps said they chose the venue as they believe the city and event to be among the world's most musical places.

As Apple Corps' first read-aloud adventure, the book follows on from the highly successful 1968 animated film.

A spokesman for Apple said: "We wondered where to officially launch the Yellow Submarine picture book and thought that the place with the most music in the world would be Liverpool - at the Mathew Street Festival.

"A Blue Meanie will be campaigning against music with the backdrop of many bands on August Bank Holiday weekend.

"There will be lots of activities and a seven-foot tall Blue Meanie character who will also be trying to get credit for the Yellow Submarine film from the 1960s."

The book, as part of a partnership between Walker Books and Apple Corps, features the wit and wizardry of the 1960s film script and will be available to buy from September.

It will be Apple's second only publishing venture. Before this, they had only ever dealt with the Beatles Anthology, which sold more than two million copies worldwide since it was published in 1999.

To appeal to all Beatles fans across the world, the Yellow Submarine picture book will be printed in eight languages.

When released, in 1968, the Yellow Submarine film was famed for its pop art and ground-breaking animation created by designer Heinz Edelmann's team of 200 artists and animators.

In 1999, it was digitally remastered and the sound remixed for a highly-successful DVD release. An Apple spokesman said it was the success of that project that led to the idea of the Yellow Submarine picture book.

He said: "The Yellow Submarine was made as a psychedelic film in the sixties, but it has had a timeless appeal, particularly for children, over the last four decades."

When the original single was released in 1966 it became a number one hit in the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden.

It was translated into many languages, including Yiddish and Latin, and was taken up as an anti-war anthem by American activists opposing the war in Vietnam.

But despite the strong link that the film had with the Beatles, none of the Fab Four provided the voices for their cartoon doubles in the film.