Jenna Bush Hager Credits Grandmother Barbara Bush (Who Had a 'Reading Is Sexy' Pillow) for Inspiring a Love of Books (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Jenna Bush Hager in 2023 (L), Former First Lady Barbara Bush in 2001.Photo:Eugene Gologursky/Getty; Pam Francis/Getty

Eugene Gologursky/Getty; Pam Francis/Getty

Jenna Bush Hageris booked (and busy).

TheTodaymedia maven spends every weekday hosting the fourth hour of the NBC morning show — newly namedJenna & Friends— and she also pops into the earlier hours to deliver the “Morning Boost.” (Bush Hager received the “Boost” baton fromHoda Kotbon the anchor’s last day atTodayin an effort to keep Kotb’s longstanding tradition of good vibes going.)

Now, Bush Hager is even busier. The host, whose popular book club Read with Jenna has helped propel 47 titles to theNew York Timesbest seller list, islaunching her own publishing imprint.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager pose with the “Morning Boost Baton” Hoda’s last day, Jan 10.Nathan Congleton/NBC

Nathan Congleton/NBC

Bush Hager tells PEOPLE that she began tossing around the idea for the imprint, Thousand Voices Books, six months ago — “and here we are!”

“Because I’m so into it, it doesn’t really feel like work,” she says. “I mean, it is, but I’m just having such a great time.”

“Somebody had told me, ‘You don’t need to start an imprint. These are the reasons why it doesn’t work.’ And the truth is, all of the reasons why traditional, for lack of a better word, celebrity or influencer-led imprints don’t work, we have sort of a solve for,” Bush Hager says, citing the fact that she’s established herself as a trusted voice in the literary world already, and she has a built-in platform to help champion her choices.

A throwback photo Jenna Bush Hager (R) shared featuring her two children Mila (center) and Poppy, sister Barbara and grandmother Barbara in.Jenna Bush Hager/Instagram

She’s also been a book worm from the beginning and can trace her love of literature back through her family tree.

“Both of my grandmothers, whom [sisterBarbaraand I] were named after, there was a certain importance that they had in our lives, and they were huge readers. I mean, my grandmother,Barbara Bush, had a sewn, needle-pointed pillow on her couch that said, ‘Reading is sexy.’ Which I’ve remade and put on my couch,” she says with a laugh.

Jenna Bush Hager, Barbara Bush, and former First Lady Laura Bush speak onstage at Mother/Daughter Dynasty: Two Generations of the Bush Family during Tina Brown’s 7th Annual Women In The World Summit at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on April 7, 2016 in New York City.Jemal Countess/Getty

Jemal Countess/Getty

Bush Hager’s mom, former first ladyLaura Bush, was a librarian, and so were both grandmothers: Laura’s mother, Jenna Welch, and theformer first lady. When Barbara’s husbandGeorge H. W. Bushbecame Vice President in 1981, she focused her special cause on literacy. She later started the nonprofitthe Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which advocates for helping parents and their children learn the basic educational skills of reading and writing.

“I remember, probably right when I could read myself, I was in maybe second or third grade, and my grandmother Barbara was visiting, and she was the first lady [then], and she’d actually brought us her dog’s puppy. Her grandpuppy. And I was reading a book that she had recommended on her arrival calledA Dog Called Kitty. And it’s kind of in the same vein asWhere the Red Fern Grows. It’s this really sad, sweet story of a dog named Kitty who has a friend, spoiler alert, and the dog passes away at the end,” Bush Hager recalls.

“I was bawling crying, being driven around with her, and she was like, ‘Somebody’s going to think I’m hitting you! Don’t cry so hard!’ But I think I realized, well, [this experience] was with her, and I couldn’t put the book down. And I think I realized the power that books have to make us feel,” she says.

NBC

As Bush Hager begins her new imprint, she’s also embarking on a new era ofJenna & Friends.After Kotb’s departure on Jan. 10, the show is having a rotation of A-list stars step in as host.

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This week,Taraji P. HensonandEva Longoriawere on-hand and Bush Hager couldn’t have been more appreciative for their help amid the devastating fires in Los Angeles.

“I honestly am so grateful thatTarajiandEvacame,” she says. “I mean, they are going through [this]— they live in L.A. and their hearts are broken — and yet they showed up for me.”

And, one thing about Bush Hager? During troubled times, she reads.

“When we’re witnessing these horrific fires and people’s livelihoods and lives and everything that they own being burned and it’s this horrific moment in our history, this book I read — that I can’t tell you about yet — brought so much hope to me.”

“So I just think [books] do have this singular power, she concluded, “that is something I want to be part of.”

source: people.com