The star of Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, The Princess Diaries, and now three Shrek films, offers parents advice for sharing a sense of wonder with their children.

As kids start counting down the days until summer vacation, you can bet they're also counting down the days until this summer's blockbusters hit theaters. Not least among those anticipated summer releases is DreamWorks' animated Shrek the Third, opening in Sacramento theaters this month. It stars, of course, none other than the reluctant green hero himself (again voiced by comedian Mike Myers) and features the biggest cast of supporting stars yet in the series of family films. We talked to one of the movie's brightest and most beloved stars, Dame Julie Andrews, who lent her inimitable voice and talents once again for the Shrek “threequel.”

Sacramento Parent: Did you ever expect to be part of a third Shrek movie?
Julie Andrews: No and I’m delighted. It’s a charming movie and funny. I’m thrilled to be a part of it… And my grandkids think I’m the best grandma you could possibly imagine to be doing Shrek and Princess Diaries and things like that. I’m very cool.

SP: How many children and how many grandchildren do you have?
JA: I have five children and I have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren! They all live in America...the bulk of them are on the West Coast.

SP: You adopted a couple of children. It seems you’re very much pro-children and pro-family. I don’t mean that in a political sense, but in the sense that family life is very important to you.
JA: I think that in my case, family is first and foremost. In other words, as a working mom, if I know my kids are okay, I can get on and be very happy doing whatever job it is I’m doing. But if my antennae sense that they’re not in a good place, then it’s very, very difficult, and one wants to sort that out immediately. In other words, family comes first.

SP: So much is being made these days about violence and sexual content in films and on television. Do you intentionally choose roles which sort of counter that?
JA: As best I can, I do. I think there’s such a place for these kinds of movies... This particular Shrek film is all about being happy with who you are and being generous to others, and so on… I run a children’s publishing [company] and printer, as I think you may know... We try not to bring out books that are violent or cruel in any way. And that isn’t to say that we don’t go with humor or wit or something that’s a little edgy. But definitely the mandate is really to create a sense—to bring to them the sense—of wonder that’s under all our noses every day.

SP: It does seem like kids grow up so fast these days, so that they seem to almost "fast-forward" past that sense of wonder you described. What advice would you give to parents who don’t want their children to miss out on childhood?
JA: I’d say encourage them to read. That may sound a little like an offshoot, but it’s not. I think that so many children are exposed to digital games and things that if you’re not careful, if you’re not able to read well and go into that fantasy world of all the good things that it has to offer, then you might stand a chance of becoming a little depersonalized. And so, first of all, I would say really encourage your children to read and read a lot. Set them on your lap if they’re very young, and read with them because it’s proven that it is so beneficial to later learning.

And from my point of view—and I can only speak personally—if you’re fortunate enough, expose your child to all the good things that the country can offer and help create in them a sense of wonder. Whether you’re on a busy street or whether you are in the country, there is something to be curious about, something to engage you if it’s pointed out. So, I think it’s each individual parent’s job to find it. Those two things would seem to me to be important.

SP: You play Queen Lillian, Shrek’s mother-in-law. What was the most fun part of doing this role?
JA: I think the freedom that one has to play. When you’re in the booth, if you feel like extemporizing, if you feel like enlarging on something or going in a slightly different direction just for the fun of it, [the director is] more than happy to have you contribute a little something. And happy things can come out of that.