The stage and screen icon is also recording voiceover for ‘Bridgerton,’ narrating a Jane Austen podcast and working on a documentary about her life, due out in 2027

NEED TO KNOW

• Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton’s new book Shy is inspired by Andrews’ singing poodle
• The book advocates for animal rescue and encourages kids to embrace their unique voices and individuality
• Andrews and Walton Hamilton are also working on a Disney+ documentary about Andrews’ life, set for release in 2027

Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton have written almost 30 books together, but the latest is their most personal yet.

Shy, illustrated by Eva Byrne, hits shelves Aug. 11 from Abrams Books for Young Readers and follows a timid puppy who gets adopted from a shelter and finds her voice with the help of her piano-playing owner. Shy is inspired by Andrews’ own singing dog, who used to warble right alongside her.

“It was an adorable dog, a little poodle, and her name was Shy, and I could not sit at the piano and practice without her eventually joining in,” Andrews tells PEOPLE. “She could actually roll down the scale with me, and it was enchanting, but I couldn’t get anything done when I was practicing.”

A longtime animal lover, Andrews they also wanted the book to advocate for rescuing animals from shelters, like Shy was. But it’s also about finding your own unique place.

“When we were first talking about the idea, it struck us that if we were to use the kernel of the true story about the real Shy, but then enlarge it, it would be a nice opportunity to show kids the value of finding your own voice and figuring out your place in the world, even if you are a little bit shy or a little bit different,” she adds.

In the book, Shy helps her owner calm his nerves before an upcoming performance, something the Sound of Music star and Bridgerton narrator says she still deals with to this day.

“Well, it sounds ridiculous, but I’m always a bit shy. I mean, walking on stage even sometimes, or new films sometimes, it takes me a week or more to kind of get what I call under the wire,” Andrews confesses. “I’m trying to get in, trying to get in, and then all of a sudden one does, and it has to do with making friends, understanding what everybody’s all about, and how you can contribute, but I have a hard time with it, I must say.”

As the daughter of a stage and screen icon, Walton Hamilton adds that she has sometimes struggled with the secondhand fame that comes with her family’s position too.

“When I was younger, I also had a hard time with it. I think I felt extra eyes on me because of my family and the visibility of my family,” she says. “And so, luckily, I could sometimes hide behind my last name, Walton, before people found out. But I always wanted the opportunity to get my bearings before I felt eyes on me, so to speak. So I can certainly relate as well.”

Creativity runs in the family, with Walton Hamilton’s father having illustrated some of their books. Her own daughter, Hope, recently graduated and is working at a literary agency.  “It’s moving on to the next generation,” Walton Hamilton adds.

Speaking of keeping it in the family: her son, Sam, helped Andrews create a home recording studio where she can do her voiceover work, including the podcast she narrates, Jane Austen Stories.

“This started in COVID. He came to me and set up a studio in my house, in my closet,” Andrews explains. “So I’m surrounded by blankets and carpets and God knows what. But when the taping was sent in to the powers that be, they liked it almost better than what I had been doing [in the studio], so ever since, I’ve been using my grandson and recording with him. Adorable, isn’t it?”

And in her ninth decade, Andrews has no intention of slowing down. The mother-daughter duo are also working on a “definitive” documentary about her life planned for Disney + in 2027, helmed by director-producer R.J. Cutler, who was behind 2021’s Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and 2024’s Martha Stewart doc, Martha.

“It’s very pleasant at my age to be needed and embraced because I love doing it. So there you are,” Andrews says. “I have a sign over my kitchen door [that reads] ‘Are we lucky or what?’ And I feel that and have done most of my life.”

“It is the secret to love what you do. And it doesn’t take away the hard work and the cursing when it doesn’t go right,” she adds. “But to love it all, then and in retrospect is lovely, really. To keep focusing on the joy of it. It’s all about the giving.”

Need your next page-turner? See which books our editors can’t put down with our People Who Read newsletter — plus get PEOPLE News.

Shy will hit shelves on Aug. 11 and is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

#Julie #Andrews #Daughter #Emma #Walton #Hamiltons #Shy #Personal #Book #Exclusive