Jenice Armstrong: Basking in Kendra's 15 minutes: Fans weep as the 'star' signs her new book

KENDRA Wilkinson knows better than to take herself too seriously.

But that message wasn't communicated to her fans, some of whom traveled from Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., to Rittenhouse Square last week just to ogle the blonde bombshell of a reality-TV show and get an autographed copy of her new book, Being Kendra: Cribs, Cocktails & Getting My Sexy Back (It Books, $24.99).

I watched as fans literally shook in their pumps as they approached the table at Barnes & Noble where Wilkinson was signing books. There were tears, as well as out-and-out sobbing. Mothers held up infants as for Wilkinson to bless. A 21-year-old confessed that she'd named the toddler in her arms after the former stripper after watching an episode of her reality-TV show on E!, "Kendra."

One middle-aged man called out, "You were the only thing on my bucket list."

From the way some folks waited in line, you'd have thought first lady Michelle Obama was doing the book-signing, not a former Playboy bunny-turned-reality-TV star - with a sex tape. I take that back, because the first person to come up to Wilkinson was a 13-year-old from Burlington Township, N.J., who proceeded to do a vigorous series of pelvic thrusts in her best imitation of the reality star's signature booty shake. On the sex tape, Wilkinson can be seen butt-naked performing a similar move with her high-school boyfriend.

"You do it better than I do," Wilkinson said, beaming at the girl.

Her mother smiled proudly.

I shook my head.

I know this is America, where it doesn't matter how you get rich and famous, just that you do, but I was appalled to realize that Wilkinson has become a role model for the teeny-bopper set and, apparently, their mothers, who pulled their girls out of school just to meet their TV heroine in the flesh. One woman let both her daughter and son skip class so that they could be there.

As you surely know, Wilkinson, now 26, was one of Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner's three girlfriends on his show "The Girls Next Door." Her eponymous spin-off also features her husband, former Eagles player Hank Baskett. The couple have a nearly 2-year-old son, Hank Jr., whom the touring Wilkinson had visited with via Skype earlier that day.