That Time I Made Jamie Lee Curtis Cry

Because we both know reading to kids is just that awesome

On March 30, 2022, I took a phone call on speaker while driving to pick up my kids from school: “Would you be available to interview Jamie Lee Curtis and Barney Saltzberg about their new picture book tomorrow morning and turn it around in ~12 hours for publication on Oprah Daily?”

I started to laugh. That was not the phone call one expects to get during afternoon carpooling.

And I said yes, obviously. I am a huge fan of both Curtis and Saltzberg (author of one of my kids’ absolute favorite books Beautiful Oops).

The next morning, I steadied my fangirl nerves — which turned out to be easy to do, because Curtis and Saltzberg were just as delighted to geek out about picture books as I was.

Near the end of the conversation, I confessed to Curtis that my favorite parenting activity was reading aloud to my kids. For me, it’s an uncomplicated, pure pleasure to snuggle up and read at bedtime. I still read to my 11-year-old every night (we are rereading Edward Eager’s Half Magic right now, at his request — a book I reread at least a dozen times when I was a kid).

And that’s when Jamie Lee Curtis told me a story. And by the end of it, she was crying and I was crying. Last week — when I led a teacher workshop in Houston on the power of reading aloud — I shared this with them and I began to cry, all over again.

Curtis captures the awe of reading to a child.

Listen in:

Years after I started writing books for children, I played the mother of a boy named Nicholas Green in the movie The Nicholas Effect [the true story of a boy who was killed while vacationing in Italy].

In this incredibly difficult moment in the hospital, his parents decide to donate his organs. And what the father says to his wife in that horrible waiting room is this:

“The thing I'm going to miss most is the weight of him on my lap during story time.”

What I realized in that moment was the power of being an author. Yes, I’m an actress, and I’ve sold yogurt, and I’m silly and vulgar and all the crazy things that I am—but I write books.

And what that means to me is that I am a catalyst for that moment between an often exhausted parent and a child.

Think of the triangle that is created when your arms are around a child and you’re holding a book. Books become treasured connection points.

That is a privilege that I feel deeply. That is why I’m an author.

Phew.

About that Houston education workshop I mentioned… For the majority of my session, I shared the science of read aloud and how kids’ brains benefit from hearing stories. It builds phonemic awareness and pattern recognition! It boosts reading readiness scores! It activates the parts of the brain associated with visual imagery and word meaning! Current research continues to support the conclusion of the 1985 Report on the Commission on Reading: “The single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”

But even if reading to my kids did NONE OF THOSE THINGS, I would still do it all over again — read to them every night from baby to tween. Because, as Curtis told me, “Think of the triangle that is created when your arms are around a child and you’re holding a book. Books become treasured connection points.”

Happy reading,

Deborah

P.S.

365 Days of Wonder: Week 12

“Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive” comes out in May! Here’s my awe diary this week.

Day 78:

I did 210 split squats today. One year ago, when I began strength training, I barely made it to 12. It’s hard to see progress week to week, but today I could see and feel my strength.

Day 79:

SPRING EQUINOX! I’m with Snoopy.

Day 80:

My friend shared this story from Minnesota Public Radio. This is community.

Day 81:

I was asked to speak (virtually) to a school district in Houston, *but* it was scheduled during my daughter's first art class at the Museum of Fine Arts. So I booked a private reading room at the Boston Public Library and just finished talking to amazing educators about the power of read aloud. Here's to art museums, public libraries, children's books, teachers, and springtime in Boston. Five of my favorite things converging all at once...

Day 82:

My 11yo and his oldest friend had a sleepover last night. They spent hours and hours designing marble runs and watching March Madness and being silly and funny and just so good to each other. They also helped me design and pick out the colors for my late-night stitching project.

Day 83:

When I picked my 13yo up from school, it was 37 degrees and pouring rain. Before I could say anything about the miserable weather, my daughter said up, “It’s so beautiful out. I like the rain.”

Day 84:

What I saw after taking the trash to the curb today.