Quvenzhané Wallis, the actor whose star turn as Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild earned her an Oscar nomination at age nine and also made me sob in a darkened theatre, has written not one, but two children’s books.
Simon and Schuster will publish Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg and A Night Out with Mama on October 3, reports the AP. “Reading is one of my favorite things to do,” Wallis told a crowd in New Orleans at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. “It’s something I would want everyone to do, especially teenagers my age. I don’t think we read as much as we should.”
The two books were co-written by author Nancy Ohlin; Wallis came up with the concepts herself and worked with Ohlin through the process. Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg is the story of two best friends who attend a performing arts school; A Night Out with Mama is a picture book about her experience at the Oscars, when she attended with her mother Qulyndreia. The former is part of a series of chapter books and will be released sometime in January.
“The stories have a few things that I like and enjoy,” Wallis said. “There are small details in there that come specifically from me. I can definitely see myself doing more of this in the future.”