Natalie Portman has just released a new book, but don’t expect a memoir or salacious tell-all—instead, the mother of two is reimagining classic children’s stories for the modern age.
Natalie Portman’s Fables Put A Feminist Twist On Classic Tales
Natalie Portman’s Fables takes three fairy tales—“The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Three Little Pigs,” and “Country Mouse and City Mouse”—and retells them in a gender-inclusive way. She recently appeared on The View and explained how her 3-year-old-daughter Amalia served as inspiration for the project.
Natalie Portman shares what influenced her children’s book, #NataliePortmansFables, which retells classic stories in a gender-neutral way.
— The View (@TheView) October 21, 2020
“I didn’t want to introduce the concept that there are obstacles to girls at such a young age,” she says. https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/rpJw7tHc31
“Of course I want to be inspiring empathy and equality in my children in the way they treat all people,” the actress told host Sara Haines. “But I didn’t want to introduce the concept that there are obstacles to girls at such a young age—she’s only three. I wanted to instill these values in her of caring about other people and treating people equally.”
But as mother and child bonded over storytime sessions, Portman quickly realized that characters were predominantly male. “What if I took classic stories but made the animal kingdom reflect the real world?” she asked herself.
For instance, in a remake of “The Three Little Pigs”, Portman explains that the trio is made up of a male, female, and non-binary animal. Another twist? The wolf is female.
Natalie Portman On Recording Her Audiobook
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked Portman to talk about the audiobook recording process. The actress reveals that she taped the tracks while sitting on the floor of a crowded coat closet.
“During pandemic times, we have to make do with what we have,” Portman says with a laugh. “They asked me to have the closest to a padded room … I had to surround myself with pillows to absorb the sound. My husband came and was like, ‘What is going on here?'”
Natalie Portman’s Fables is illustrated by Janna Mattia. The book is dedicated to both Amalia and Portman’s 9-year-old son Aleph.
