Perhaps her now infamous custom Dior Oscars outfit was a premonition of Natalie Portman’s endeavors, who is working on a children’s book emphasizing empathy, inclusivity and humor. The Academy Award-winning actress, director, producer and activist is adding author to her list, as she announced she will work with Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group to retell three classic fables under the title “Natalie Portman’s Fables.”
“Reading stories is one of the first ways we start practicing empathy. We feel for characters in stories as we might for ourselves or our own friends,” Portman said. “These classic tales have great messages (hard work pays off, perseverance and grit win over hubris and haste, abundance can be dangerous), but I hope they just feel like great stories we want to read again and again, the way I do with my children’s favorites.”
The three chosen stories? The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs and Country Mouse and City Mouse. All three stories focus on life lessons, from the virtue of staying humble to finding that there is no one right way to live. Every character has the purpose of teaching kids about accepting the life around them and making positive changes in the world.
Artist Janna Mattia makes her debut as the children’s book illustrator in this collaboration. The book will be published October 20, 2020.
