Jake Gyllenhaal Has Written an Adorable Book Inspired by his Nieces
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t have any kids of his own yet, but he is a very proud uncle. His nieces, Ramona and Gloria (their parents are his famous sister Maggie Gyllenhaal and her husband, Peter Sarsgaard) inspired his latest project. He just released a new children’s book called “The Secret Society of Aunts and Uncles,” co-authored by Greta Caruso and illustrated by Dan Santat.
He shared about writing the book, “I mean, first of all, I love my nieces. They’re just incredible humans. And when my first niece was born, you know, I was sort of like, ‘I’m becoming an uncle. Like, oh, I get to be Uncle Jake forever!’ And then I was like, ‘What does that mean?’ You know?” The book is described as a “magical adventure” about what it means to have an aunt or an uncle. He added that he realized he didn’t see that many books about aunts or uncles and wanted to write about that particular relationship.
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His oldest niece is now 16 and the youngest is 11. Gyllenhaal said they are great girls and added, “For me, being there for them in whatever way I can, acknowledging the things they’re going through, both good and bad. To know also that as they grow older, I’ll be someone they can come to if they ever need any outside advice, even with their parents, which you know is a really important position for an uncle or an aunt to be for their niece or nephew, so that they can grow and go through their own secret society of aunts and uncles and become great aunts themselves one day.”
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Jake Gyllenhaal, Greta Caruso and Dan Santat doing press for the book
Of course, Gyllenhaal has plenty of advice to give out on being the best uncle (or aunt) out there. He said that the best thing you can do is really listen. The other? Add a little “HDD,” which means a healthy dose of danger. He said that it means encouraging safe risks and pushing them to grow in ways that maybe their parents don’t. He concluded that being an uncle is “great fun and actually super easy!” Which of course means that you don’t really have to do the hard stuff as a parent but swoop in as the fun aunt or uncle.
Check out the book on Amazon here.
Kid Stuff
June 2018
Unleash your inner child by reliving your favorite kids TV shows, cartoons, toys and more!
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