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In the story, readers see Leno's mother ââ‚¬â€? described as a thrifty, reserved matriarch ââ‚¬â€? and his over-enthusiastic father, whose big ideas are sometimes too big for reality "I picked this one "I had a great family," he said and everything sort of came together So I said, 'OK,' and I walked away Jay Leno's New Book Aimed at Children Mar 22, 3:12 PM EST Long before Jay Leno entertains the adults on "The Tonight Show," the comedian can put the kids to bed with his new storybook My dad was one of those kinds of guys " The story reaches its climax during a big family dinner: "I was a little kid and I was fascinated by the roast beef going around the spit," Leno said "My dad started yelling in Italian, picked up the roast beef and threw it out the window B If for some reason she wasn't there, you're aunt or your uncle or they'd send you to your cousin's house ' Men don't clean the kitchen, they sandblast it Leno has written a new picture book called "If Roast Beef Could Fly," based on a real family cookout from his childhood in which mischief led to a ruined rotisserie of meat " "They said, 'Well, you know, one of our guys has seen you a number of times I'd come home at three and my mom would have a snack ready It comes with a CD of Leno reading the story aloud, doing the voices and whispering asides to kids as they read along At one point the comb caught on the string used to tie the roast beef "Everybody was stunned I think I was well into my teens before I ever went home and there was nobody there "Everything with my dad was a 'project " The story involves his father's efforts to build a new patio with a barbecue rotisserie ââ‚¬â€? while young Jay, complete with superhero's chin and black pompadour, follows along in awe "Simon & Schuster called me one day and said, 'Are you thinking of doing a children's book?' And I said, 'No!'" Leno told The Associated Press " In real life, Leno said, there was a happy ending grumble, grumble ' He'd lose his temper, then it would go away right away Whitehouse, goes on sale Tuesday "So I took out my little plastic comb and stuck it in the meat And he said, 'How about some of those family stories, you ever think of doing one of those?'" Leno decided the tale of his family's ruined roast beef might make for a few laughs "A lot of comedians had screwed up families, but fortunately I wasn't one of them Then everybody started laughing: 'What was that?' And my father would go, 'Oh come on ' You know, my dad never fixed anything ââ‚¬â€? it was a 'project " The book, with drawings of "little Jay" by artist S ' And there are certain stories I've told over the years that people seem to get a kick out of So I went, 'Uh oh,' and I didn't want to break the motor " "When my dad brought the roast beef out, he started to cut it and then ââ‚¬â€? clunk! A big piece of plastic fell off and the meat was pink underneath," Leno said