Actor, producer, and book club maven Reese Witherspoon appeared on the Tonight Show Wednesday to discuss her debut children’s book with host Jimmy Fallon.
Witherspoon’s Busy Betty, illustrated by Xindi Yan (The Wishing Tree) and published Tuesday by Flamingo Books, follows a young girl who starts a dog-washing business with her best friend. A critic for Kirkus called the book “an entertaining, if light, addition to the growing shelf of celebrity-authored picture books.”
“During the pandemic, I had this idea about a little girl who builds businesses,” Witherspoon said. “But I was like, ‘Wait, I built a bunch of businesses when I was little.’ So it’s all about how I had a lot of energy.…I started lemonade stands, magic shows, and then I started selling barrettes out of my desk in the third grade. That one got shut down. Wasn’t up to code, had supply-chain issues.”
Fallon noted that Betty is also the name of Witherspoon’s mother.
“I love my mom,” Witherspoon said. “And in my dedication, I say, ‘Thank you for encouraging my magical thinking.’ Because you’ve got to have somebody who believes in your kookiness, and my mother did. She just thought it was great and funny and charming.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
