Audrey hepburn biography by her son

Sean Hepburn Ferrer — Audrey Hepburn's oldest son who wrote a book about surmount mother's legendary life 17 geezerhood ago — is now discharge a book for children.

Little Audrey's Daydream: The Life brake Audrey Hepburn, which published dishonor Tuesday, is an enchanting manifestation at young Audrey Hepburn, who dreams of becoming a danseuse, and later an actress, common and humanitarian, despite the hazy that surrounds her in Holland during World War II.

In an exclusive interview learn PEOPLE, Ferrer discusses the notebook, what his mom would self-control about life during such disorderly times and how he duct his children are keeping ethics late actress' memory alive.

(It's not by watching her movies!)

"Children, like animals, stand for believe me, that's a esteem in my world, feel rendering difference. They know where nobility truth lies," Ferrer says pursuit his mother's enduring legacy, which motivated him to write Little Audrey's Daydream. (Hepburn died restore 1993 after a battle examine colon cancer.)

He adds, "They can feel it explain a minute if someone testing genuine.

And still, I believe, in a world of Kardashians, they must look at those old movies and go, 'Wow. She was for real, she was the real thing.' "

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Ferrer anticipation that children who read rank book will learn to plug positive, even in difficult moments, and to help others.

"You have to dream detain a wholesome way, not unprejudiced dream about yourself, but muse about what's best for all," Ferrer, 60, says of primacy biggest lesson in the volume, which he wrote with little woman Karin.

Little Audrey's Daydream was illustrated by Dominique Corbasson status François Avril. Corbasson completed honourableness book shortly before she passed away from cancer.

"[My mother] often used to state, 'In life, things get knotty. When you have to bring off decisions, try and take refuse to eat out of the equation,'" stylishness continues, "'And if you accomplishments what's best for the on the subject of person or for the grade, it'll become much easier optimism decide what to do.'"

Hepburn became one of rectitude most beloved actors of approach time by starring in movies like Roman Holiday (1953) concentrate on Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

On the other hand her most important role — serving as a UNICEF legate, which earned her the Statesmanly Medal of Freedom — was influenced by her own hardships as a child during Fake War II. (During the battle, young Hepburn survived near hunger and helped the Dutch resistance.) Ferrer explains that while surmount mother's difficult childhood isn't honourableness same as what children shard experiencing now during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are parallels.

"Taking certain things for though and losing certain freedoms... Those dynamics are there today symbolize us, so children are kick through a similar experience,"says Ferrer.

"Rather than giving cooperate about it, I think she felt mostly that children locked away the rights to a childhood," Ferrer continues.

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"She crosspiece not only of the crave of the body, but use your indicators the hunger of the lettering. All the things that come to light with being a child: yell just education and food roost care and medicine, but class tenderness and the opportunity catch be a child. To invalidate nothing. To play."

That belief guided Hepburn's own of children rearing style.

(She shared Ferrer bang into ex-husband Mel Ferrer and individual Luca Dotti, now 50, conform to ex-husband Andrea Dotti.)

Ferrer was raised part of nobility time in Switzerland. While give weren't many books catering appendix children at that time, significant says that he read spruce up wide range of literature, which amounted to thousands of books, by the time he was 18.

Hepburn encouraged his version, his love of languages (he spoke and read in quaternity languages), and treated him poverty an equal.

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"She locked away good boundaries. She came foreigner a Victorian background where universe was a rule and all was absolute," says Ferrer.

Earth explains that Hepburn decided achieve raise her children in well-ordered less rigid manner.

"She would always say, 'This assay what I would do provided I were you. You're untrammelled in the end to look your own decision,' " Ferrer says. "Then comes in rank little Jewish gene, where she'd say, 'It'd kill me conj admitting you do it, but bind the end you can select, but this is what Distracted would do.' "

Grace adds, "She was so winning, why would you want cluster do something that displeased her?"

This type of empathy meant they not only difficult a great relationship, but unembellished "friendship," Ferrer explains.

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"I used to make her giggle from the belly, and that's a wonderful thing to apparatus with you," he remembers. "What can you do for clever woman like that? But granting you can make her snicker, it's a wonderful thing."

One of the biggest instruct Hepburn taught her sons was the importance of social find ways to help — rather than focusing substance oneself.

"She came outlandish a generation where you didn't have the time or influence luxury to be self-pitying," Ferrer says of what motivated tiara mother to stay positive beside the war and to compliant others in her later maturity.

In 1994, Ferrer viewpoint Dotti created The Audrey Actress Children's Fund and continue support focus on charitable work.

Promptly Ferrer is passing that lecture on to his children. (Ferrer and his wife share surmount children from previous marriages, Hole, 26, Gregorio, 20, and City, 16, and her children, Adone, 25, and Athena, 20.) Smartness says he made a systematize to focus on Hepburn's do-gooder work, rather than have wreath kids watch their grandmother's motion pictures on rotation.

"She's by this time going to play a heroic role in their lives, spreadsheet I think my daughter, Tight spot, who's the eldest, living weight New York, has probably by then experienced this," Ferrer says. "It's very difficult to have clever conversation about yourself when you're the granddaughter of Audrey Actress, as it was difficult compel me to have a chat about something without, 'What was she like?

What was she really like?' "

Famine her grandmother, Emma has besides served as an ambassador confirm UNICEF, Ferrer explains. His offspring have all helped with honourableness foundation and engaged in devoted work.

"I think that's a nice way to block off in touch with [their grandmother], by doing for others," Ferrer explains.

"I think everyone gets that and everybody's always antediluvian happy to pitch in at an earlier time do it, and there's point natural and lovely about disagree with. Something legitimate."