Have you ever had a night where the dark felt a little too dark? Where the house felt too quiet, and your heart beat just a little too fast? You didn’t want to make a big deal of it. But you walked down the hall anyway and sat right next to your mom or dad. And somehow, just being there made it better.
Tim knows that feeling too.
Pages seven, eight, and nine of Just Like You: Tim’s Story by Terri Geerinck take us somewhere deeper than sandcastles and scraped knees. These pages go right to the heart. They talk about fear. About wonder. About the kind of quiet comfort that only a parent can give. And they do it in a way that every child and every grown-up will recognize right away.
“Sometimes, I get scared, and I feel sad. Loud noises, too many people, too much light. Sometimes, I just sit beside my Dad.”
That one moment, Tim sitting quietly next to his dad on the couch while the night sky shows through the window, is one of the most touching scenes in the whole book. There are no big explanations. No long talks about why Tim feels the way he does. Just a boy and his dad. Side by side. That’s all it takes.
And then the book flips it around and asks the reader, do you ever get scared at night? Because Tim does too. And just like that, a child on the autism spectrum and a child reading this book find something they share completely.
Hero TV Shows
Tim loves watching heroes on TV and dreams big, even about going to the moon one day.
Scared at Night
Loud sounds, too many people, and too much light can feel overwhelming, and that’s okay.
Comics in His Room
Tim reads comics curled up in his room, cape on, imagination running wild.
Page eight takes a joyful turn. Tim is in his room, wearing a superhero cape, reading a comic book while a superhero show plays on TV. His walls are covered in space posters. He talks about loving movies where people fly to the moon, and wonders out loud whether he might go someday. That little “maybe I will, who knows?” carries so much heart. It’s the voice of a kid who still dreams big, no matter what challenges come his way.
This is one of the things that makes Just Like You: Tim’s Story so special. It never lets autism define Tim. He is funny, curious, brave, and full of imagination. The book shows children that having autism doesn’t shrink a child’s world; it just shapes it differently.
These three pages cover a lot of emotional ground: fear, comfort, wonder, and joy. And they do it all in simple, rhyming words that a six-year-old can follow without help. Reading these pages out loud with your child gives them a natural chance to talk about their own fears and dreams, too. That kind of conversation is rare and precious.
Perfect for Bedtime Reading
The nighttime scene with Tim and his dad makes this section of the book especially lovely to read before bed. It opens the door for your child to share what scares them, and for you to sit beside them, just like Tim’s dad does. Simple. Quiet. Everything.
There’s a reason books like this matter. Kids don’t learn empathy from lectures. They learn it from stories, from meeting a character who feels what they feel, dreams what they dream, and is scared of the same dark hallway at night. Tim is that character. And this book is that story.
Don’t wait to share it with the little ones in your life. Get the Book Today
Just Like You: Tim’s Story is available on the official website and on Amazon. A book that opens hearts, one page at a time.
