Matthew McConaughey (53) is a man of many talents. On screen, the Oscar winner has mastered just about every genre, from haunting dramas like “Dallas Buyers Club” to silly comedies like “Tropic Thunder.” And outside of the dream factory, quite a few people wish that the socially committed Texan would become more involved in politics. On September 12th, the star’s first children’s book entitled “Just Because” was published.
The star revealed what goals he was pursuing with the book in an interview on the radio program “Morning Edition” on the US public radio network National Public Radio (NPR). He and his wife Camila Alves (41), with their three children Levi (15), Vida (13) and Livingston (10), would experience first-hand the pressure of expectations that many children and young people are now growing up under.
He wants to take this pressure away from the kids and reassure them that they can take their time growing up. He also wants to “show all the contradictions that each of us carries within ourselves” – and that these are completely okay. The picture book also contains short rhyming and memory sentences that are intended to encourage children to talk to their parents – dialogues that McConaughey would have liked to have had during his childhood.
In times of social media, it is even more important to give children a moral compass and at the same time strengthen them emotionally. As difficult as it may sometimes be (even for adults), no one should let negative comments ruin their day. He therefore sees his work “Just Because” not as a pure children’s book, but as a “conversation piece between parents and children – to understand each other. To understand yourself. To understand humanity.”
