Yes, Superman Star David Corenswet’s Grandfather Created the Choose Your Own Adventure Books (Exclusive)

For Superman star David Corenswet, choosing adventures runs in the family.

The actor’s maternal grandfather, Edward Packard, came up with the idea for — and wrote several of — the Choose Your Own Adventure books, which allow readers to make decisions about what happens by jumping to a different part of the story.

Corenswet, 31, tells PEOPLE his grandfather, 94, developed the concept after “telling bedtime stories to my mom and my aunt and my uncle. As he described it, he ran out of ideas, and so he just started asking them to come up with the next idea.”

Indeed, in a 1981 New York Times article, Packard, a former lawyer who commuted to New York City from Connecticut, recalled the specific night in 1969 that spurred the idea.

“I asked my girls what Pete, my mythical hero, should do next in the story,” he said, adding that his kids each chose something different. “On the train the next day, I thought, ‘What would happen if you wrote both endings?’ ”

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He wrote a book called The Adventures of You on Sugar Cane Island, acquired an agent and shopped it to publishers — but they didn’t see Packard’s vision and rejected it. After putting his dream aside for five years, he eventually found a small publisher, which sold 8,000 copies of Sugar Cane Island for $3.95 apiece, Packard told the Times.

Over the years, the one book became a series and grew wildly popular. The books have since sold hundreds of millions of copies and have been translated into dozens of languages, according to Publisher’s Weekly. 

Though his grandfather was the man behind that, Corenswet tells PEOPLE there was no “single moment when I realized that that was a really big deal.”

“But it’s always fun having somebody mention them. The books come up one way or another, and I get to give him credit,” he continues. “And people who love those books really love those books, and it really means something to them.”

Of course, Philadelphia native Corenswet was a fan himself. “I read them growing up. Anytime we would visit his house, they’d be around. And they’re amazing books,” he says. 

“Especially … at an age where you’re too young for video games or, when I was growing up, when video games were not quite as accessible and ubiquitous,” the actor continues. “They really were the most interactive media you could easily find.”

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“And it’s so much fun going through and trying to find an ending that you like — or once you’ve found your ending, going back and trying a different choice,” he adds. “Or sometimes just going through and reading all the pages and wondering, ‘How does this all come together?’ ”

Did the book series inspire Corenswet to choose his own adventure in life? After all, not everyone gets to play Superman.

“Very few people get to play Superman,” he agrees, adding that “luck” had a lot to do with where he is. He also points out that not every choice that seems like a good idea leads to a desired result.

“You think you’re making the right choices in the Choose Your Own Adventure books, but my grandfather very cleverly would sometimes make it so that if you feel like you’re making all the right choices, that doesn’t mean that you end up in an ending that you like,” he says.

“I actually think there’s more to the idea of making choices not solely based on the outcome you think they will bring, but based on the principles with which you navigate life,” continues Corenswet.

“To the point where you can feel like, even if this choice brings me an outcome I didn’t want, I could still look back on it and say that I made the right choice,” he says. “And then whatever the outcome, at least you can live with yourself; you can feel like you did your best.”

“I think that’s a lot of Superman, as well. Superman is less worried about the outcomes of his actions than he is about making sure that he does what he knows is right in the moment,” Corenswet adds.

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