Matthew McConaughey’s Brand-New Children’s Book Gets Families Talking — & It’s Already a Bestseller
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Bestselling author (and beloved actor) Matthew McConaughey has officially ventured into the world of kid lit with his latest book, Just Because. And just because it dropped yesterday, doesn’t mean it’s not already a bestseller!
We can confidently say that the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor wrote a heartwarming tale that’s more than just “alright, alright, alright.” The rhyming book teaches kids and reminds adults that more than one thing can be true at one time.
“Just because I’m in the race,
doesn’t mean I’m fully ready.
Just because I’m shaking,
doesn’t mean that I’m not steady.”
In a candid interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, McConaughey talked about some life experiences that inspired lessons in the book such as “Just because I lie doesn’t mean I’m a liar.”
“That’s a really cool one that I learned when I was about ten,” the dad of three said. “A friend of mine had fibbed to me. I called him a liar. And I saw him get completely defensive – like I had just cast a nasty character trait across his whole being…What I learned from that was don’t ever label someone if they did something one time. Don’t label them the liar. That’s a character trait…I later went to this friend and said, ‘Hey, sorry about calling you a liar. But you lied to me.’ And then he was able to go, ‘Okay, you’re talking about that specific event. Yes, you’re right. My bad. Here’s why I did it. I’m sorry.’ And we came back together. But, boy, there was no coming back together when I labeled him as a liar.
“There’s things people do in certain circumstances or situations,” the gun control advocate continued. “That does not mean it’s a full-on character defect of them. Nor do we have a right to label them that way.”
A main purpose of the book, McConaughey explained in the interview, is to really get loved ones taking. It’s meant to help people understand themselves, each other, and humanity.
“There’s a poetry to living,” he said. “There is innuendo and context. And we’re so dead head read on trying to understand absolutes and make things certain in black and white. And we miss half the picture a lot of times when we do that. I know it’s an easier and safe place to go, just to make a decision. This is just how it is and it won’t change. That’s just not really true. And so, yeah, a conversation piece between parents and the children, back and forth. And each person, mother, father, grandmother, brother, sister, child is going to have a different personal understanding of what each couplet means to them.”