Uncomplicated parenting in a complex world.

Book Review: Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas

by AmyT on March 12, 2010

In Honor of Read Across America Day on March 2nd, my husband gave our girls the second book written by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas, Love Your Heart. It is a wonderful book highlighting a beautiful relationship between a daughter and her dad.

Katie is trying to figure out what act she is going to perform in the school talent show. Her dad watches as she tries to figure out what to do. He encourages her as she juggles eggs with her dog and cartwheels into a mud puddle. He tells her he is her biggest fan.

When the talent show finally arrives, she doesn’t perform her own act but instead helps one of her friends.

“Katie girl, you are beautiful from the outside in,” Dad said.

“I love your juggling.

I love your cartwheels.

I love the funny things you do. But most of all, I love your heart.”

This is not just a story of a daughter and her dad, it also is a story of friendship and kindness. Sometimes we don’t know exactly how to explain to our kids the sacrifices we can make for our friends. This story shows a perfect example of true friendship.

More from McGraw and Douglas

If you enjoy this book, you will also enjoy the first book by McGraw and Douglas titled My Little Girl – a story of a perfect daddy & daughter day. Katie thinks that her daddy has a spectacular day all planned out for her. She thinks it is going to be an extra special day. When she finishes getting ready for the day he says,

“Ready for our big day? Even though we’re doing nothing in particular, just being together will be spectacular!”

Katie is a little disappointed. She is not so sure about a nothing in particular kind of day. As the story progresses, the time they are spending together really does turn out to be extra special. They see little chicks and bunnies, they find shapes in the clouds, they have a special lunch and play on the swings.

When Katie is headed to bed she declares to her dad, “I had a spectacular, nothing-in-particular day.” When her dad asks her what her favorite part of the day was she says, “Being with you!”

Fathers and Daughters

My daughters love it when I disappear for a day and they get their daddy all to themselves. This book also reminds me of spending time with my dad when I was a little girl. I really like the Katie books because they really show the importance of the time a dad spends with his kids. There are a lot of books with a mom and her kids, so it is special to find one that focuses on a dad.

When our daughters are grown up, I hope they always remember the spectacular, nothing-in-particular kind of days with their dad.

Tell us: do you have a favorite book about parent and child relationships? Or a favorite story about the power of friendship?

(top photo source)

Written by Amy Thue

Amy is a writer, traveler, crafter, chef , baker, chauffeur, story-teller, and memory maker, but most importantly she is a mother. She blogs at Girlfriends Get Real.