Matthew McConaughey hopes his new book, Just Because, will teach his kids and beyond the lessons he wishes he learned when he was growing up.
The book, out September 12, "shows kids all the contradictions that we all have with ourselves, with each other and understanding human relationships," he told NPR.
The Dallas Buyers Club actor was inspired by the pressures he knows kids face today. He shares Levi, 15, Vida, 13, and Livingston, ten with his wife Camila Alves.
Revealing what his three kids thought of the book, he first shared: "[My] daughter loves the pictures. She's very visual. We've talked about a lot of these couplets in different ways for, I guess I didn't even know it, but for years."
Some of the couplets go: "Just because you threw shade doesn't mean that I'm out of the sun," and: "Just because I lie doesn't mean I'm a liar."
It's a lesson his kids tell him he's been inadvertently teaching them for years, he says, sharing: "They told me I've been kind of trying to father some of these things into them."
"We've had some cool conversations about these about different couplets in our family," he said, adding: "And we still are."
MORE: Matthew McConaughey's striking daughter is mom Camila's double in photos
MORE: Matthew McConaughey and teen son Levi make emotional appearance for incredible act of generosity
He noted: "I'm finding that after I'm having conversations with my kids about this book, I'm still continuing conversations with myself, conversations with my wife, conversations with other people about some of these couplets."
Though it's a children's book, his hope is to connect the young and older generations alike, with the goal to "understand each other. To understand ourselves. To understand humanity. People, life, living."
He wants to create "a conversation piece between parents and the children, back and forth," and says: "Each person, mother, father, grandmother, brother, sister, child is going to have a different personal understanding of what each couplet means to them."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletterand get them delivered straight to your inbox.