OWNER’S PROFILE was found under a freeway overpass and in need of a forever home, she leaped. That, too, became fodder for a book, this time her first for children, called Maverick and Me. “I wanted to write a book that really spoke to children about the importance of adoption and fostering and helping animals in need,” she says. If hers weren’t already so long, perhaps Schwarzenegger Pratt’s middle name would be “curious”. As an established author and animal advocate, working as an ambassador for Best Friends Animal Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals, one would suppose the California writer would pen another book on her furry friends. But no. After meeting and marrying actor Chris Pratt, the newlywed found herself reflecting on forgiveness, and how difficult the process was – for her and for so many others. In 2020, just in time to provide the world with the perfect tome to read during an isolating global lockdown, Schwarzenegger Pratt released her fourth book, The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable. In it she discusses the forgiveness journeys embarked upon by individuals who have overcome truly unthinkable experiences. She interviewed Elizabeth Smart, who let go of her anger for her kidnappers; she spoke with a parent of one of the Columbine shooters, who had to forgive herself; she sat with a man whose entire family was killed by another driver, but found empathy for him partly because the father, too, had killed a little boy in a car accident when he was young. “I learned so much from being able to talk to people openly and honestly about forgiveness, which isn’t the sexiest topic,” she says. Putting the book together was a therapeutic experience for the author, as was engaging with so many people on her pandemic book tour. “It’s still a subject that people ask me about and talk to me about because forgiveness is such a complicated subject,” Schwarzenegger Pratt says. “It’s a challenging one for the majority of us and so to be able to feel like you can read about someone’s experience or struggle with forgiveness and feel seen in your own, you can believe that there is hope,” she says. The whole experience, she adds, changed her idea of ROCKING IT Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt at home in California forgiveness. “I no longer think of forgiveness as a gift that I give other people but as a gift that I give myself.” Lately, Schwarzenegger Pratt has been curious about sisterhood. She’s the mother of two girls and she’s extremely tight with her only sister, so it makes sense that her latest endeavor is a children’s book, Good Night, Sister, about two little girls connected by parents and their love for one another. “I actually had the idea of writing this book before the girls,” she confides, though the book was released in February 2023, after both daughters were born. Schwarzenegger Pratt wanted to celebrate her relationship with Christina, who is 19 months younger than the eldest Schwarzenegger. “I wanted to write a book to start a conversation with young kids about sisterhood… to show them that this is a person – even if you don’t have a sister, it could be your brother or your best friend or your cousin or your parent – who you can turn to in times of need or for comfort. It’s such a huge gift and that bond is so important.” Right now, Schwarzenegger Pratt is busy teaching her two little girls to be sisterly, but of course that’s not enough for this curious creature. In 2021, during peak Covid, she launched a weekly Instagram Live series called Before, During & After Baby. BDA Baby covers fertility, postpartum depression, body after baby, going back to work, and pretty much anything you can think of related to new motherhood. She also launched a collaboration with fashion brand Cleobella that features sustainable mother-daughter matching outfits, as well as pyjamas and kitchen apparel – basically whatever you’d wear in the home and use in the kitchen. It seems there is nothing this 34-year-old cannot accomplish. But maybe that’s a mindset, and we all need to adopt it. Though Schwarzenegger Pratt says she didn’t know what she wanted to do for work when she was a new graduate, she does admit she always knew she wanted to be a mother. Now her one million Instagram followers get to see her do it all online and, frankly, she puts most of us to shame – baking, cooking, parenting, partnering, travelling, often on NetJets. “I feel really lucky that I have an incredible partner in my husband and that I live really close to my family,” she says. “But it’s all still a journey.” “ I I no longer think of forgiveness as a gift that give other people but as a gift that I give myself. 30 NetJets MAIWENN RAOULT / THE NEWYORKTIMES / REDUX / LAIF
