In addition to Academy Award winner, Reese Witherspoon can add the utmost honor of becoming the first best actress Oscar winner to deliver a bedtime story for British kindergartners.
Witherspoon is set to read a children’s book for BBC children’s channel CBeebies, which targets kids aged six and under. The “Morning Show” star will read “Extraordinary” by Penny Harrison.
The CBeebies gig is especially on brand for Witherspoon, who’s something of a bibliophile herself. Through her production company Hello Sunshine, she launched Reese’s Book Club, which is curated by the actor and selects a book each month. The club has 2.2 million followers on Instagram.
“Extraordinary,” illustrated by Katie Wilson, shows how you can discover beautiful and wonderful things, wherever you look — if you just look closely enough.
Opening the story, Witherspoon reads: “Sometimes, when we’re busy, it can be hard to find time to notice the world around us. The things we see every day can seem a bit… ordinary. But if you stop, and look closer, you’ll see that our world is extraordinary!”
As she sends the young audience off to bed, the actor encourages them to look closely at something the following day that may at first appear ordinary and they might also discover something magical.
Witherspoon is the latest in a long line of famous faces to take the CBeebies hot seat. Past readers include Ryan Reynolds, Tom Hardy, Chris Evans, Regé-Jean Page, Felicity Jones, David Schwimmer, Alesha Dixon, Eddie Redmayne, Orlando Bloom, Sir Elton John and Dolly Parton.
“Bedtime Stories” airs every weekday at 6:50 p.m. on the CBeebies channel, and is also made available on catch-up service BBC iPlayer. Witherspoon’s episode will air on Jan. 28.