Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Tough Guys Have Feelings Too
Keith Negley · 2015
80/100
👍 Worth It
Under 80 words and it still lands — the bold illustration does the heavy lifting and does it beautifully. Multiple credible outlets including School Library Journal and the Eric Carle Museum independently praised this, and the message (tough guys have feelings, and that's fine) is one kids genuinely need. A confident, well-executed picture book.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety87
Substance / usefulness79
Craft & writing80
Originality76
Evidence & accuracy89
Hype vs delivers85
Age-fit88
👁 Human-eye gut-check81
Penny’s verdict80
Cross-pollinate