[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Before becoming a mother, I worked on children's shows because I like children and my job. But motherhood changed me. It taught me many things and now I am not just a TV host but also a child psychologist," she says.

Having grown up reading folk tales from One Thousand and One Nights and books by Hans Christian Andersen, Zhou still dreams of becoming the princess in The Princess and the Pea.

"I would feel very proud if my plays left something in children's memories," she says.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn