Katherine Schwarzenegger Says Story Time’s ‘Theatrical,’ Chris Pratt Gets Involved (Exclusive)

Story time is all about having fun in the Schwarzenegger Pratt household!

Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that reading to her kids at night is a whole production — and husband Chris Pratt loves to be involved.

“As of late, my two girls are getting very into the, I guess, theatrical component of story time,” the New York Times bestselling author and BDA Baby podcast host, 35, says, referring to daughters Lyla Maria, 4, and Eloise Christina, 3.

“Even though you wind down at the end of the day, they’re putting on their costumes and doing full presentations,” continues Schwarzenegger Pratt, who also shares son Ford Fitzgerald, 8 months, with Pratt, 46. (The actor is also a father to son Jack, 12, with ex-wife Anna Faris.)

“My husband is very into it as well. He gets into the voices and the theatrics behind it,” she adds. “It’s actually really sweet.”

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According to Schwarzenegger Pratt, her children’s fondness for story time was passed down from her own love of doing the same with her parents, mom Maria Shriver and dad Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“Growing up, story time was always something that we did as a family, and something that I always looked forward to — my mom or my dad reading a story to us as we were getting ready to go to sleep, or even just during the day,” she says.

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Schwarzenegger Pratt says that since he became a mom herself, getting to watch her love for storytelling take new life in her children has been an experience like no other.

“I didn’t really know how much I would enjoy it, … being able to watch them as they absorb these new stories and these new concepts and characters and drawings. It’s definitely a really exciting time for me,” she says.

Schwarzenegger Pratt’s children also enjoy when story time involves their journalist grandmother or movie star grandfather, as well as her other family members.

“Both of my girls are now at the age where they’re asking people to sit and read stories with them. They read with my mom and with my dad, and my siblings,” she tells PEOPLE.

“The simple notion of just being asked to read a story to a child is such a huge gift, so I really try to pause in the beauty of this time in my life where I have my kids saying, ‘Will you read new stories?’ It takes you back to your own childhood and the memories that come with that,” the proud mom continues.

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Schwarzenegger Pratt is gearing up to release her third children’s book, Kat and Brandy, which was inspired by the horse she rode as a child, as well as the love for the animal that was passed down from her mother. Kat and Brandy, which features illustrations by Petra Brown, follows
Schwarzenegger Pratt’s other children’s books, Maverick and Me and Good Night, Sister, (She is also the author of the self-love book Rock What You’ve Got, plus the inspirational The Gift of Forgiveness.)

Kat and Brady, which will be released on Nov. 4, is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.