Chris Pine recently published his first children’s book, “When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel: A Short Tale About a Short Tail.” Illustrated by Chuck Groenink, the picture book chronicles the story of a dog, Digz, and a squirrel, Zurl, who have their own set of insecurities. As the story unfolds, the duo soon realize they are not that different from one another.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Pine discussed writing his first children’s book and the message he wants to send both parents and kids through his book. The 44-year-old actor is also hopeful that “When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel: A Short Tale About a Short Tail” would be able to solve a common issue faced by many parents.
Chris Pine hopes his new book is fun for parents and kids
Chris Pine hopes his children’s book will be entertaining not only for the kids but also for their parents. Talking to PEOPLE, the “Star Trek” actor discussed a certain parenting problem. According to Pine, most parents have to read the same book repeatedly to their children before bedtime or during other moments, which may feel tedious. The actor also wants his new book to resonate with the parents so that they can thoroughly enjoy reading it to their kids.
Pine stated, “A lot of the impetus for writing, the joy of writing, was thinking about parents reading it.” He further continued, “Because I remember when I was a kid and fell in love with a book, I’d have my father read it over and over again.”
The actor then clarified that although he is not a parent yet, he has talked to several parents who are “just sick and tired of reading book X for the umpteenth time.” Pine revealed that this served as an inspiration to him because “it would be great to write something that hopefully feels so delicious in the mouth.” He added, “They [both kids and their parents] would want to come back and explore over and over again.”
“When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel: A Short Tale About a Short Tail” is currently available to purchase.
