Marge In Charge will be released in the US at the end of 2017:
Isla Fisher Announces Her New Children’s Book Series: Reading Is an ‘Integral Part of Childhood’
Actress Isla Fisher charmed audiences in Wedding Crashers, and now, she’s channeled her quirky humor into children’s books.
PEOPLE has the exclusive cover reveal for her book Marge In Charge, which is the first of a three-installment series and will be published in the U.S. this fall.
” ‘Don’t worry about being perfect or you’ll miss out on the fun!’ That’s the message in the Marge books,” Fisher tells PEOPLE when describing the middle-school book series, which follows the adventures of two siblings and their unorthodox babysitter Marge.
“Jemima, who is the narrator and the eldest child, feels she has to be a ‘good girl,’ so thanks to Marge she learns to let her ‘freak flag’ fly and enjoy being a kid,” continues Fisher, 41, a mother of three.
In conjunction with the U.S. book deal, Fisher will be the final speaker at the BookExpo’s Children’s Book & Author Breakfast on June 2 (which will also feature authors Jason Reynolds, Marieke Nijkamp and Jennifer Weiner). There, she’ll discuss her upcoming book, as well as personal stories tied to her love for literacy.
“It saddens me when I think about how much vocabularies are shrinking — I know mine is, and there’s only so much I can blame on lactation,” writes Fisher about what inspired her to create the series.
She explains, “Stories were a fun part of my childhood. We moved around a lot as a kid (I was born in Oman to Scottish parents and moved to Australia when I was 6), so I hid in books.”
Now a mom to three young kids — Montgomery Moses Brian, 2, Elula, 6½, and Olive, 9 — Fisher understands the importance of reading to her children.
“Books take tiny people to places they can’t go: on a pirate ship, inside a peach, through a looking glass,” Fisher writes.
“They help children find quiet time, provoke thoughts and discussions and educate them. They are an integral part of childhood.”
But how much is Fisher like the unpredictable, fun-loving Marge (who encourages the kids to eat pancakes off the ceiling and drink apple juice out of water guns)? Where is the line between acting like a grownup and embracing your own inner child?
“I wish I knew the answer to that,” admits Fisher, who is married to fellow comedic actor Sacha Baron Cohen, 45. “I love tapping into my inner idiot (and have made a career out of it), but having a family definitely turns you into a grownup overnight.”
Marge In Charge will be published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in Fall 2017.
(People)