Reese Witherspoon Shares How Her 3 Kids Inspired the 'Epic Meltdown' Illustrations in Her New Children's Book (Exclusive)
The actress shares daughter Ava, 25, and son Deacon, 21, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, and son Tennessee, 12, with her ex Jim Toth
Reese Witherspoon knows exactly what a kid's meltdown looks like — thanks to her own three children.
The actress, 48, sat down with Carson Daly's son Jackson, 15, to chat about her new children's book "Busy Betty & The Perfect Christmas Present" for an NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition segment. During their discussion, Witherspoon revealed how her three kids — daughter Ava, 25, and son Deacon, 21, whom she shares with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, and son Tennessee, 12, whom she shares with her ex Jim Toth — helped influence the illustrations for Betty's "epic meltdown" in the story.
"It was really important to me to have an artist render Betty how kids really are," the author explains in an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE ahead of the episode's release on Saturday, Nov. 30.
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She continued, "So Xindi Yan is this artist that I met, and she just had these amazing designs that felt really modern. But also she does these really funny things, like her expression of kids outrage."
"I have three kids myself, and I don't know a kid who doesn't have an epic meltdown at least once a day," said Witherspoon. "So I wanted her meltdown to look real, like I wanted tears to be shooting out of her face."
"Xindi really got that," she proudly added.
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Ava Phillippe and Reese WitherspoonIn September, the mom of three celebrated Ava's 25th birthday, who's now enjoying coffee dates with her mom rather than throwing tantrums.
Witherspoon posted a carousel of photos to her Instagram. In one photo, the lookalike mother-daughter duo sits together at a French café, wearing matching black outfits as they sip drinks together. She also included a throwback photo of the two from when Ava was younger and a black-and-white picture of Ava holding a rose.
"Happy Birthday to my amazing daughter @avaphillippe who happens to be one of the most genuinely kind-hearted and wise people I know," Witherspoon wrote in her caption.
"I love you with all heart 💓Keep shining your beautiful light my sweet girl! ✨."
