For any of Channing Tatum’s self-proclaimed number one fans, I’m sorry to report that the feeling is not mutual. Nope, that spot is reserved for Channing’s 7-year-old daughter Everly, aka Evie, the inspiration behind his first children’s book The One and Only Sparkella. While promoting the book on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Channing opened up about his “beautiful” relationship with his daughter – who he shares with ex-wife Jenna Dewan – and some of the lessons Everly has taught him about parenting.
“I never thought I’d be an author of anything, much less a kids’ book,” he said. “Then I realized there weren’t that many dad-daughter books . . . Me and my daughter have a really beautiful relationship and it’s really fun. And I was worried a little bit, just being a dad, [about] how I was going to relate and understand a little girl, and the key was just to go into her world and it was so fun and the world that we created [in the book] was so rich . . . She’s very much like Sparkella.”
“That’s the thing I really want to teach Evie, is just how to live, how to have fun, and find joy.”
Like Sparkella, Everly is a “precocious little trickster,” according to Channing, but that wasn’t always the case. During the interview, Channing recalled a day when his daughter was in preschool and wanted to wear her favorite watermelon cape to school but changed her mind at the last minute. “She panicked and started taking it off. She was like, ‘I don’t wanna wear it. I don’t wanna wear it,'” he said. After Channing asked what was wrong, Everly said she didn’t want to be made fun of for her cape. “Then I realized that was the very first time – at least, that I saw – of her being self-conscious about how other people saw her,” Channing said. “It was heartbreaking but a beautiful moment all in one.”
Since then, Channing has helped his daughter grow into her confidence and is proud of the little girl she’s become. Today, he enjoys reading his daughter bedtime stories like his parents used to do for him – even if Everly insists he keep the voices to a minimum – and braiding her hair before bed, minus the viral vacuum ponytail hack. “She’s such a little character,” Channing said about Everly. “The story just sort of happened. I didn’t really have to dig deep for that imagination. It was more just observing my daughter, and our relationship is super hilarious.”
As Everly continues to grow and learn, Channing hopes to impart one key takeaway from his own childhood for his daughter. “I really learned from [my mom], and my dad, that anything you do, do it at 100 miles per hour and enjoy it as much as you possibly can, and that’s the thing I really want to teach Evie, is just how to live, how to have fun, and find joy,” he said.
It’s easy to see that Everly adds a lot of magic to Channing’s everyday life, and we can’t wait to see more of the dad-daughter duo in the future. Order a copy of The One and Only Sparkella ($17, originally $19) here and watch Channing read a few snippets from the new book ahead.
