Julie Andrews Talks Kids, Grandkids and Her New Children's Poetry Book

The iconic star of The Sound of Music and her daughter Emma talk about their new children's book and family life.

One of Julie Andrews‘s favorite childhood memories is of her father reading to her when she was a young girl growing up in England.

“My father had a lovely way of reading,” recalls the iconic star of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. “He had a very nice voice, and he really made sure I understood the words. What was so endearing is that he suddenly became rather formal when he read, and I so enjoyed watching him do it properly for me.”

Now the 77-year-old screen legend is passing on that passion for books to her own eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton, 49, teamed to produce a new children’s poetry anthology, Julie Andrews’ Treasury for All Seasons: Poems and Songs to Celebrate the Year.

The book — which features kid-friendly poems from Robert Frost, Dr. Seuss, Walt Whitman and Jack Prelutsky, among others — is the 22nd children’s book collaboration between Andrews and Hamilton. Both mother and daughter encourage parents to read aloud to their children.

“Those are the memories that will last a lifetime,” says Emma. “Mom carried on that tradition with us, and I continue to carry it on with my children. Reading equals love.”

— Michelle Tauber