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Jamie Lee Curtis brings 'This Is Me' to Naperville

Students at a Naperville school heard Thursday from a famous person they know as an author, but their parents know as an actor.

Jamie Lee Curtis read aloud her most recent children's book, “This Is Me: A Story of Who We Are & Where We Came From,” to about 200 kids at Longwood Elementary School before a book signing at Anderson's Bookshop in downtown Naperville.

With the help of library director Donna Kouri, the Longwood kids were ready for Curtis and the book's topics of immigration, family history and self-definition. Although parents likely know Curtis as the star of “Halloween” in 1978, or the mom to Lindsey Lohan's character in “Freaky Friday” in 2003, Kouri said she was careful to define Curtis through her writing.

Curtis herself took the same approach. Before reading the rhyming text of her 11th book with illustrator Laura Cornell, she quizzed them on what it means to be an actor and what it means to be an author. She became a writer by accident, inspired by a cute moment with her daughter at age 4, and told the students all it takes to be an author is “imagination and a beautiful mind.”

“Every person who has ideas in their head can be a writer,” Curtis told the kids. “And I am living proof.”

“This Is Me” involves students completing a teacher's assignment to place a few things in a suitcase to explain who they are as if they were traveling to a new country.

“We have so many kids here who have immigrated,” Kouri said.

Students in first, second and third grade got to put on their thinking caps at the end of Curtis' reading to tell the author what they would pack to tell of their history and character.

A stuffed monkey, a heart emoji pillow, a soccer ball (deflated), a computer with its charger, a Wii and its remote, spaghetti, a favorite pair of shoes and a blanket made by a grandmother were the items students said they'd stow. The last was Curtis' favorite because it speaks to the student's family and future.

“Kindness and open-mindedness,” Curtis said. “These are the best things you can bring.”

  Jamie Lee Curtis tells Longwood Elementary students in Naperville how she became an author and wrote her newest book, "This Is Me: A Story of Who We Are & Where We Came From." Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  All it takes to become a writer is imagination and ideas, Jamie Lee Curtis tells Naperville students Thursday at Longwood Elementary School in Naperville. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  A diverse group of first, second and third graders at Longwood Elementary in Naperville including Analy Ouintana of Naperville was the perfect audience for Jamie Lee Curtis to share her new children's book about immigration, "This Is Me: A Story of Who We Are & Where We Came From." Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
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