Tough Guys Have Feelings Too

This book was a gift to my nephew, and he loved it. So many colorful pictures and has a great message for kids.

Son loves to read before bed, currently in rotation for the past week... so he likes it! My only gripe is it's hard to follow sometimes from page to page, then just ends. His teachers recommended to help him navigate being okay with his emotions, so I gave it a shot. He loves how he can put himself in the position of the little illustrations on the inside covers of the book but he gets a little sad when we get to the biker and the dead squirrel lol I don't know, if he likes it, guess it's alright!

Wish every boy had this. Really helped my 8 year old explore some fears of crying and what that means about him. Awesome book with great pictures that lead to good discussion.

This book is so incredibly great! I saw another teacher had it and it made me think of a few select students who would really benefit from hearing a story like this! Kiddos need to know their feelings are valid and how to deal with them. Love it

This book is fantastic! It doesn’t only break down the stereotypes of guys being tough and not having emotions, it also opens up some dialog. My kids noticed all kinds of things in the background (like why each guy was sad) and we spent a good thirty minutes reading though this book the first time. I am very pleased with this addition to our library, and I plan to gift it to several friends!

Love this book! We received it from a friend for our son and now will be buying it for every little boy we know 🙂Edit: the last 2 copies I have purchased have had finger prints and dirty sticky stuff on the covers. Since they were gifts, this was pretty disappointing.

My son's face lights up whenever I start reciting the words (and trust me, my husband and I both have it memorized by now!). We read it every night before bed. As a mother trying to raise a self-aware boy, I love the book too — "tough guys have feelings too" is a common phrase said around our house!

Great For little boys who are tough and want to be the best all the time. Easy simple text discusses many feelings though guys have and further discussion can be had about what to do about it. Little boys can both be tough ANd express their feelings. :-)

Tough Guys Have Feelings Too by Keith Negley is undoubtedly a visual showstopper. The bold, comic book style illustrations and simple colour palette are striking and attention-grabbing. The book itself has relatively little text, and is carried by the images, with context offered by the endpapers, which show first, a little boy pretending to be all the characters in the book, and latterly, him playing with or being comforted by his father as things go awry. Without this context there is no apparent storyline to the text, but on reflection, the child is every tough guy in the book.Whilst the title of the book states that tough guys have feelings, the book focuses exclusively on men crying because they are upset or possibly frustrated, and does not represent a wider range of emotions. This does feel like a missed opportunity, but once drawn in by the illustrations, there is the potential to practice mentalising (and develop empathy) with children by asking them why they think each tough guy is upset and what they might need. This could be further built on by asking them to reflect on times they have been upset and to use this to think about what they could do to help others.This book certainly has a place in our collection, but does not stand alone in addressing toxic masculinity or encouraging emotional expression in boys.

I had invested in a collection of books that discuss boys feelings particularly and that it’s ok to cry etc. I found the pictures lovely but the “story” fell flat and the point missed. I can recommend A Boy Like You.

It's hard work being a superhero. This lovely book offers funny pictures of it 'all going wrong' with the important message that it sometimes goes wrong for all of us, however 'super powered' we are.

Fantastic. Criticism in other reviews that this book doesn't have much story is crazy. True there are few words but the pictures allow open discussion with children. Bought this story to deal with rowdy superhero play and had a whole class mesmerised.

Great book for boys boy, hero enthusiastic. A nice reminder we all have feelings.