Jamie Lee Curtis: Writing for Kids Boosts Her Self-Esteem
By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 7/18/2008
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| Jamie Lee Curtis reads to children. |
Curtis told School Library Journal that being the child of Hollywood stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, as well as a poor student, made it difficult to experience success. She became an actress because she felt it was the natural thing to do—after all, both her parents were in the business and she was surrounded by actors her entire life.
But when praise for her acting fell flat, she sought the need for approval. “[Acting was just] showing up and saying words someone else wrote, moving as I am directed—and I don’t even get to dress myself,” she says.
After being inspired by a comment by her four-year-old daughter, Curtis decided to write her first book, When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth (HarperCollins, 1993), about a girl who looks back on her childhood from the grand old age of four. It was then that Curtis found her voice, and it’s through her books for children that she truly found self-esteem, she says.
The actress recently read her latest children’s book during the annual American Library Association conference in Anaheim. Big Words for Little People (HarperCollins), her eighth book for children in the past 14 years, is scheduled for release this September. The picture book helps kids communicate in a big person's world using grown-up words like "cooperate," "respect," "patience," and "considerate."
