“The thing is we never get to see how these characters react when they have a bad day, or when they screw up,” says Negley. Negley and Parker had always watched a tonne of cartoons together, they both loved Star Wars movies, and they played video games together–the common thread between all these different mediums being that they feature a lot of stoic, heroic characters, always savng the day, forever being tough, and often with something clever to say, too. This is where Negley’s first book, Tough Guys Have Feelings Too, came from. So I looked online, and I went to some bookstores, but I couldn’t find anything that really did the trick.”

“Which is what got me thinking how it would be cool if there was a book that could broach the subject. “It was actually really hard,” admits Negley. But it wasn’t easy, because this wasn’t a conversation he ever had with his own dad. That night, Negley remembers he desperately wanted to reach out to Parker, and explain that what had happened, and what he’d felt, was completely normal. So he went out and sat by himself and didn’t want anyone to talk to him.” A lot of new emotions, like fear, embarrassment, guilt and anger. He was feeling a lot of different emotions, all at once. Parker got up and didn’t know what to feel about it, so he went to the other side of the field and sat by himself. “Then the other kid came and got the ball and pushed him down.

“He was playing soccer and he stole a ball from another kid,” recalls Negley. Illustrator Keith Negley realised this one day, after going to watch his young son, Parker, play sport. A few might have started opening up to their partners, but the dude who’s overly expressive to his mates, or pouring his heart out to his son, remains a rare beast.Īnd while there are new, softer role models around for young boys, including superheroes with imperfect personalities, it’s safe to say the premiere of Emotionally Accessible Man (saving the day with his incredible empathy!) isn’t coming to a theatre anytime soon. Men might be cooking risotto, folding the towels and staying home to mind the kids nowadays, but we’re still not talking about our feelings. It’s a brave new world, where boys don’t always have to be so brave anymore, thanks to illustrator Keith Negley.

Guys have feelings too