Matthew McConaughey Shares the Idea Behind His First Children's Book

Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey is bringing his trademark humor and soul to children’s publishing!

The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star announced the presale of his first kid’s book Just Because on Thursday. The colorful picture book illustrated by Renée Kurilla, explores life’s possibilities and focuses on all of the contradictions around us through the eyes of children.

Just Because addresses questions like, “Have you ever felt worried and excited at the same time? Have you ever had your feelings hurt but forgiven someone anyway? Have you ever thought there was more than one right answer to a question? That’s because contradictions are all around us. And they make us who we are,” the teaser for the book explains.

The father of three, Livingston, 10, Levi, 14, and Vida, 13, told People that he “didn’t make plans to write a children’s book” but that the idea came to him “one night at 2:00 a.m. as a ditty in a dream.”

“Hanging around my own children, seeing them first make sense of the world in black and white and then maturing into understanding the more subtle realities of life, I’ve seen them slowly realize the innuendos, context and poetry in people’s actions and feelings,” McConaughey said. “I believe this book will resonate with children of all ages ‘just because’ it speaks to the kid in all of us.”

The picture book will be the New York Times bestselling author’s second book. He previously released his acclaimed memoir Greenlights in 2020. Just Because will be released on September 12, 2023.

Just Because is now available for preorder on Amazon at Amazon.com and across various other platforms at JustBecauseBook.com.