Chris Pine Shares Message for Readers in New Kids Book (Exclusive)

Chris Pine can now add children’s book author to his already impressive résumé.

The actor and director, 44, has stepped into the writing world with the release of his first-ever book, When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel: A Short Tale About a Short Tail.

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, Pine opens up about penning the project and how he hopes the message of the story — loving and accepting one another despite our differences —resonates with both kids and parents alike.

“A lot of the impetus for writing, the joy of writing, was thinking about parents reading it, 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,” he says. “Even though I’m not a parent, I can’t tell you how many parents I’ve talked to, and for whatever reason, they are just sick and tired of reading book X for the umpteenth time, so I thought, ‘Well, it would be great to write something that hopefully feels so delicious in the mouth and is so fun to say … that they would want to come back and explore over and over again.’ ”

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“The story of it is really quite simple, but I think it doesn’t mean that it’s any less important to state the importance of compassion and seeing past judging a book by its cover, so to speak,” continues the Don’t Worry Darling star.

“I love this idea of looking at a bully, and everybody’s experienced a bully or being a bully themselves, and really understanding where it comes from and thinking, ‘Well, perhaps a bully isn’t just an a—— because they’re born that way, but maybe something happened to them growing up that made them so vulnerable that they had to become mean and cold and angry in order to deal with it.’ “

When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel, illustrated by Chuck Groenink, follows a canine, Digz, who thinks he is the ruler of a garden, despite a squirrel, Zurl, believing the opposite.

Even though the two are natural enemies, the animals learn that there’s always more than meets the eye, and they eventually come to an understanding of each other — and their differences.

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“It was during the first part of [COVID] quarantine, I was out on a walk with a friend, and my dog chased after a squirrel. My friend was like, ‘I don’t think I know about a story about a dog chasing a squirrel.’ It seems so universal. Doesn’t every dog chase a squirrel? And I said, ‘Yeah, that sounds about right,’ ” Pine says, of what first gave him the idea for the story.

He adds, “So I went home, and because I really didn’t have anything to do and was looking for a creative outlet, I started writing this book … and really enjoyed it.”

Pine — who is a dog dad of two himself, and also currently fostering two other pups — tells PEOPLE that the story drew inspiration from others he read as a child.

“The book certainly was inspired by the books I grew up reading — the classics like Beatrix Potter, Wind in the Willows and things that seemed to stand the test of time artistically,” he explains.

Pine also adds that he “really wanted the book to have that timeless feel, but also the musicality of the language that you’d find in Dr. Seuss.”

“I wanted to write and create something that felt like it had existed already for 50 years. It’s a book that’ll be relevant now, it could have been relevant 50 years ago, it’ll be relevant 50 years from now, … and it’s a story that’s very simple, digestible and easy to articulate to young children, and something that hopefully is fun for the parents to read,” he says.

When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel: A Short Tale About a Short Tail is available to purchase now, wherever books are sold.