Must-read children's books by celebrity parents

Canadian actor/comedian Jim Carrey's recently released book, How Roland Rolls — about a wave named Roland who rolls through life's challenges and into his dusty end (the shore) — has been making waves in the bookstores!

"The idea of expanded consciousness is something I’ve always been interested in, looking for and experiencing in my life,” Jim explains. "[O]ne of the things I’ve always wanted to talk about or deal with is the fact that kids have profound feelings and profound questions that people don’t give them credit for. They think about life and death and, 'What happens when something happens to Mom? What happens when something happens to me?'"

Jim dedicated the book to his three-year-old grandson, Jackson. Awww! Click on for more celeb parents (and grandparents!) who've written great kids' books! >>>>>

Mom of two Julianne Moore has written a series of children's books, starting with Freckleface Strawberry (2007), which is loosely based on her own life: It's about a little girl who wants her freckles to go away and learns ultimately to accept them. The book became a New York Times Best Seller.

"There's a documentary on Maurice Sendak that I saw and people are always asking why he wrote children's books and he says, 'It comes out how it comes out!'" Julianne told Elle Magazine. "I don't think anybody has an intention [to], things just sort of end up that way. It sort of happened. I wasn't really planning it. Obviously, I'm an actress, not a writer [laughs], so this thing just developed."

Read more: Celebrity look-alikes: Mom and daughter edition>

Have I told you that they are all part of you?
Have I told you that you are one of them,
And that you are the future?
And have I told you that I love you?

That's an excerpt from Barack Obama's children's book, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters (2010). It's a beautiful book, written in the form of an inspirational letter to his two daughters, Natasha and Malia, and in honour of thirteen legendary Americans.

Mom of two Brooke Shields wrote a sweet book about becoming a big sister, called Welcome to Your World, Baby (2008).

"The voice throughout this is so [my] Rowan," Brooke shares. "She’s said almost everything verbatim in that book. It’s just been a matter of constructing it so that I could put it into a book."

Read more: 12 celebrities who have struggled with infertility>

"That's what's special to me," Jamie Lee Curtis, author of I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem (2002), has said. "What I get to do is invite a child on to their parent's lap and spend 15 minutes together reading this and then talking about, perhaps, what makes that child like themselves. Ultimately, people could then relate. It is the hope that I can spread the word about this for children. Who better than the person who was known as 'the body?'" Awesome!

At some point between downward dogs and world tours, mom of four Madonna has managed to write many books for children — all moral tales inspired by the lessons she's learned from Kabbala: The English Roses 12-book series (2007-9), Mr. Peabody's Apple (2003), Yakov and the Seven Thieves (2004), The Adventures of Abdi (2004) and Lotsa de Casha (2005). 

"I didn't get the stories from the Kabbala Centre," Madonna has insisted. "Well, some I gleaned from my studies, but I've adapted them to a modern vernacular. Some I made up. The idea of sharing is not unique to Kabbala. The story of The English Roses is universal. You know . . ., people jumping to conclusions about other people."

Read more: Adoption and the celebrity parents we love>

Tori Spelling has written several books, including one children's book, Presenting Tallulah (2010), which is loosely based on her own childhood desire to belong and be accepted by her peers. 

"I love storytelling and I love being an author, but this one will be my greatest achievement because its for my kids," the mom of four has said. 

"I feel like everyone at some point can relate to wanting to be accepted for who they are not what others perceive them to be or want them to be," she continues. "Its a good lesson about remaining true to yourself!"

Have you read Kathie Lee Gifford's adorable Party Animals (2010) or The Legend of Messy M'Cheany (2011)? The mom of two's famously quirky personality lends itself well to writing children's books. 

"I think just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t mean you know how to write a book, even a book for children," she has said. "You have to be child-like yourself in a way and you can share morals with them without being preachy. Even little kids don’t like to be preached at. It absolutely has to be enveloped in a sense of fun and wonder."

Having children and a desire for distraction were the impetuses behind Katie Couric's book The Blue Ribbon Day (2004). 

“Well, I read a lot of books to [my] Ellie and Carrie," Katie tells CNN. "I just sort of started writing little rhymes down on the weekends . . . because I get up early because of my body clock. And I wasn't sleeping that well after Jay died. And so I would sort of occupy myself by grabbing an envelope. And I just sort of started forming this little story about two little girls named Ellie and Carrie." 

"I feel too often parents and teachers both kind of say, kids will be kids, [that] happens and you can't do anything about it," she says of the book's narrative, which was inspired by a childhood experience. "And I think you can.”

Mom of one Whoopi Goldberg wrote the Sugar Plum Ballerina series for kids stuck doing activities in which they don't have an innate interest. 

“People who I know have their daughters in ballet, and their daughters aren’t really interested in ballet,” Whoopi explains. "Their mothers were more interested in seeing their kids do things that they were not able to do when they were kids."

"So, I guess the real bottom line is to have a good time," she continues. "Make sure that having a good time is important, and that laughing a lot is important. As long as those two things are present in one’s life, the ability to be a creative person will never leave you."

"It has been a lot of fun," country singer and dad of three Tim McGraw said about co-authoring his book My Little Girl (2008). "It's fun to write something that fathers can share with their daughters — told from a father-daughter point of view. There's not many of those books, especially books that you can read in a few minutes. So to have something like that — that a father can share with his daughter — was a big impetus for me to want to do it.”

Read more: Celebrity daughters who look like their famous dads>

Celebrity grandparents (who knew?!)> Check out some of our favourite celebrity grandparents. Some of them may surprise you!