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Savannah Guthrie cannot handle 'The Giving Tree' either

Books have always been important to TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie, but she began to approach them differently after she became a parent.
/ Source: TODAY Contributor

Books have always been important to TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie, but she began to approach them differently after she became a parent.

Savannah Guthrie on Parents magazine
Savannah Guthrie and her kids Charley and Vale strike a pose for Parents magazine.Parents magazine

Guthrie and son Charley, 8 months, and daugher Vale, 3, appear on the cover of the November issue of Parents Magazine, where Guthrie discusses her new book, "Princesses Wear Pants," written with her friend, clinical psychologist Allison Oppenheim. It has an important message for kids, Guthrie says, "that you can be a princess and a doer and a girl of substance."

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In the magazine, Guthrie shares the importance of stories and books to her family.

"I remember very well loving (Shel Silverstein's 'The Giving Tree,'" Guthrie tells the magazine. "But then I read it once Vale came along, and I had such a different reaction to it. I loved it as a little girl, and as an adult I found it so sad. As a kid, you identify with the child who has a tree giving everything to him. And as an adult, you identify with the tree."

Guthrie and her husband, Michael Feldman, entertain Vale by telling her true stories about ordinary things they did — and Vale loves them. And they also have introduced a made-up character, the Big Red Heart Balloon, which Vale adores.

"She has a vivid imagination, and it comes from storytelling," Guthrie says.

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