Actress has something to say -- to children

Her publications have been described as self-help books for kids.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Be careful what you say around Jamie Lee Curtis.
She's a very sharp listener, and the conversations she overhears are the basis for her best-selling children's books. Her newest, "It's Hard to Be Five: Learning How to Work My Control Panel" (Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins) was inspired by her 5-year-old son's frustration as a castle he built tumbled over.
Meanwhile, her first book, "When I Was Little," was about her daughter's boasting about "the good old days" when she was 4, and "Where Do Balloons Go?" was a question Curtis overheard at a birthday party.
The star of "Trading Places," "True Lies" and "Freaky Friday" isn't leaving film behind. She co-stars with Tim Allen and Dan Aykroyd in the holiday release "Christmas With the Kranks" -- after all, as the daughter of actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, acting is literally in her blood.
But right now she's focused on her role as an author. Curtis spent a rare day away from her children, who were at home in Los Angeles, so she could promote her books on "Today" and "The Tony Danza Show" in New York.
She gave a lot of thought to her outfits -- and changed between the two tapings.
Her Manolo Blahniks, however, never left her feet. She's clearly proud that she got the fashionable, pricey shoes dirt-cheap by calling the store and asking what they had in her size (a 91/2) that was on sale.
Salmon pumps? No problem. She bought them "at like an 89-percent discount," took them to a shoemaker and dyed them black for a few bucks.
The interview
Q. What's so hard about being 5 vs. 6 -- or 45?
A. 'It's Hard to Be Five' is not a book about 5. It's a book about self-control. Five is the age when they start school, and 5 is the age when all that self-control comes into play. It's because they're expected to have it ... and therefore, it's a book for birth to 8, because it's about the development of self-control.
Q. Are your children's books entertaining storybooks or morality tales?
A. Someone referred to them the other day as self-help books for kids. It would be obnoxious if I coined the phrase, but it was a lovely compliment and I took it.
Q. Was becoming an author a conscious career change?
A. I sat down and wrote something that I didn't know was a book until I finished it. As soon as I finished it I knew it was a book because it made me cry. I thought 'Wow!' ...
Q. What do you think of the whole celebrity kiddie-book author phenomenon? (Among those who've written recent children's books are Jay Leno, Billy Crystal, LeAnn Rimes and Billy Joel.)
A. (When I started) I hadn't done 'True Lies' yet, so the biggest success I'd had at that point was 'A Fish Called Wanda,' and although it was a big success, I was not a big celebrity or a media darling on any level, I was a very low-level movie actor who'd had a little success.
Q. Do your kids, 17-year-old Annie and 8-year-old Thomas, think you're cool because you're famous?
A. They don't care. Maybe when they're older they'll care.
Q. Why haven't you worked onscreen with your actor-filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, whose credits include "A Mighty Wind," "Best in Show" and "This Is Spinal Tap"?
A. I don't work with Chris because -- officially -- I don't do what he does. He's a very successful director of improvisational comedy.