Not Now, Bernard

by David McKee

The classic picture book story about a little boy and his preoccupied parents who are too busy to notice him — now available in a miniature hardcover edition.Bernard’s parents are so busy doing their own thing, that they don’t notice the monster in the garden, nor see when the monster eats Bernard. In fact, the monster can eat Bernard’s dinner, break his toys, and even say “But I’m a monster,” without being noticed!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Fiction, Fantasy, Monsters, Animals

26 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

David McKee was a British writer and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations. He also used the pseudonym Violet Easton. He is frequently referenced as David (John) McKee. He has been commended for his gentle, playful but insightful stories.

For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006.

Reviews

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read and enjoyed this many times, albeit not recently. The story and illustrations are good, funny, and, at first, relatable, with echoes of The Boy who Cried 'Wolf'. The parents are always too busy to pay much attention to their son. It was written in 1980, long before smartphones and social media.

I was reminded of it by Rafael Behr's opinion piece in today's Guardian, 31 August 2022, six days before Johnson actually resigned as Prime Minister and Liz Truss took over, "Brexit is the monster under the bed Liz Truss is desperately trying to ignore" - see below.

In addition to all the problems Behr lists, on 4 September, twelve Tory MPs said they plan to submit letters of No Confidence to the internal 1922 Committee in Truss' first week as PM (they'd need 54 in total). See HERE.


Image: “'But I'm a monster,' said the monster.” (Source)

Brexit is the monster under the bed Liz Truss is desperately trying to ignore, by Rafael Behr.

There is a book that foresaw with precision this summer’s Conservative leadership contest, although it was first published in 1980. It is a thin volume about denial and negligence, making its point with few words and colourful illustrations. It is called Not now, Bernard by David McKee.

The titular hero is a boy who tries to alert his parents to the presence of a child-eating monster in the garden. They are busy with other things. “Not now, Bernard,” says the father, striking his own hand with a hammer. “Not now, Bernard,” says the mother, watering a plant.

The monster eats the boy.

The next resident of 10 Downing Street will find the garden crawling with monstrous economic and political menaces. A chorus of Bernards is raising the alarm. Economists, MPs, former Tory ministers, charities, trade unions, businesses, local councils – all can hear rustling in the bushes where a beastly crisis lurks, ready to savage the new prime minister.

Anyone who pays an energy bill and does a weekly shop can feel the claws of a budget squeeze closing around the nation’s windpipe. There’s an ogre in the health service. “Not now, Bernard,” says Rishi Sunak. There’s a fiend in the financial outlook. “Not now, Bernard,” says Liz Truss. There are devils in your policy details. “Not now, Bernard!”

Then there is that other monster, the one that has become such a fixture in the garden that even the opposition seems not to notice it any more. Can we talk about Brexit? Not now, Bernard!

Britain’s self-exclusion from continental markets is not the biggest cause of present economic pain but it will be hard to imagine remedies in the absence of any rational audit of that decision or any reexamination of the ideological fixations that provoked it. But for Brexit believers, it is always too soon and too late to pass judgment.

Too soon, because the benefits of freedom lie unclaimed under the pyre of “retained” EU regulations that both Truss and Sunak promise to incinerate. And too late, because Brexit is the settled will of the people and any hint of a downside is sedition.

The Tory party recognises only two possible positions on Britain’s relationship with the EU – heroic insistence on further severance and cowardly plotting to rejoin. Labour, unwilling to adopt the former stance and afraid of being cast in the latter one, says nothing meaningful on the subject.

Meanwhile, the erection of pointless customs barriers between Britain and its nearest markets has obstructed trade, imposed costs on business, snarled up supply chains and stoked inflation. The end of free movement has caused labour shortages for food producers, care homes and a gamut of services in between.

Free trade deals with non-European states that were meant to compensate for the loss of continental custom have had negligible impact. (Most are copy-and-paste jobs from arrangements Britain had as an EU member.)

Sterling has depreciated, but without the compensating boost to export competitiveness that might be expected from a currency devaluation. Business investment has been flat since the referendum, in large part because the political climate has been so unpredictable. That volatility – two general elections and three changes of prime minister in six years – is a function of the struggle to turn an ideal Brexit, nurtured in the parochial Eurosceptic imagination, into a reality-based Brexit involving other countries and real people’s jobs.

It can’t be done. Opinion polls suggest a majority of voters think the whole thing was a mistake. Liz Truss, the likely winner of the leadership contest, insists otherwise with the vehemence of a zealous convert.

Truss was a remainer in 2016 because she was an acolyte of George Osborne. The then chancellor convinced his disciple that Britain would not be foolish enough to jettison EU membership. The campaign would be fought on the economy and the smart thing for an ambitious young minister to do was back the winning side. She promptly did just that once the results were in.

Truss now claims that backing the wrong horse in the referendum taught her to discard orthodox economic thinking. That created a mental vacancy, which she filled with hardline Brexit dogmas. By 2019, she was arguing in private that Britain could safely walk away from the EU without a comprehensive deal. Brussels, she said, would immediately be cowed into “side deals” to mitigate any possible harm, the threat of which was, in any case, vastly exaggerated by lily-livered remoaners.

Having learned to despise received Treasury wisdom, Truss has graduated on to scorn for diplomacy as traditionally practised at the Foreign Office. Reports of her encounters with overseas counterparts suggest she stumbles at the subtle boundary between direct and brusque; candid and crass.

That tendency was on display at the hustings event last week, where Truss was asked whether the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is friend or foe. “The jury’s out,” she said. It was meant in a mischievous spirit, with an eye only for the Tory activists in the room. Foreign secretaries and wannabe prime ministers used to avoid imbecilities of that kind before Boris Johnson contaminated both offices with his marauding insouciance. And even he doesn’t hesitate to call France an ally.

Tories now speak increasingly fondly of the outgoing prime minister, not because they remember him as a skilled leader, but because his unique skill is mesmerising them into forgetting what good government is meant to look like. Truss doesn’t have that magic touch. The Brexit booster wand sits awkwardly in her hand.

Conservative readiness to indulge Johnson is no measure of his reputation in the country, but the leadership contest is not a national election. For at least one more week, British politics is contained in that sealed chamber where there is a Boris legacy to celebrate, where the solution to poverty is corporate tax cuts, where the solution to everything is tax cuts, where tax cuts have no impact on public service budgets, where life outside the EU is all upside and can only get better.

But there’s a monster in the garden.

McKee’s story doesn’t end when Bernard is eaten. In a brilliant twist, the monster then enters the house and moves into the boy’s room, breaking his toys and eating his dinner. Still the parents don’t notice. “But I’m a monster,” the monster is finally moved to inform them. “Not now, Bernard,” they say.

This is the next chapter for Britain. The monster is here, announcing itself with roars and snarls. The crisis is upon us, demanding capable, serious government. When will that cry be heard? Not now, Britain. Not now.

The article is HERE.

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I suppose the book is basically an allegory of climate change?" asked Bernard. "Though on reflection it might equally well be about the collapse of democracy, the unchecked spread of nuclear weapons, the very real possibility that AI technology could--"

"Not now, Bernard," sighed his parents.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another favourite from my childhood that I wanted to revisit as a parent, I certainly didn't remember it being so bleak!

All Bernard wanted to do was engage in conversation with his mum and dad, but they kept brushing him off.
They still didn't notice that the monster in the garden ate Bernard and then took his place.

The message of this picture is certainly aimed at parents during bedtime stories, it's so vital to give your child the time and attention that they deserve.

[بثينة العيسى · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrifying.

[Rama_flh · Rating 5 out of 5]

به‌نظرم این کتاب بیشتر به‌جای بچه‌ها، برای خانواده‌ی بچه‌ها خوبه که حتما بخونن. :)))
تصویرسازی و محتوا عالی.

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Em honra de David Mckee (1935 - 2022)

Isso é tão genial que nem sei. E o tamanho da gargalhada que eu dei.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely and cute story. I couldn't help myself then to laugh at times. A great classic read with a good powerful message in it. Loved it.

[Rana Heshmati · Rating 4 out of 5]

واقعا غم‌انگیز بود! و بیشتر مناسب پدر مادرهاست، تا بچه‌ها :(

[Laura Cope · Rating 2 out of 5]

This short, simple story tackles the issue of a young boy who tries to get the attention of his mum and dad, and yet every attempt is met with a "Not now, Bernard". Bernard is so fed up, that he goes into the garden, gets eaten by a monster, and his mum and dad still don't notice! In fact, the monster ends up tucked up nicely in Bernard's bed!

To me, this book was quite sad as Bernard is left vying for his parents' attention, but to no avail. It is not clear whether the monster is real, or a figment of Bernard's imagination in his attempt to amuse himself and also in a stretch to get through to his parents. Although the illustrations throughout are lively and vibrant, the story ends rather unfortunately, and to me, does not display much hope for any children who could be suffering from a lack of attention at home.

The book could be suitable for children with special educational needs due to its repetitive nature and simple, yet effective, imagery. For young children, however, (who the book is aimed at due to its simplistic nature) I feel that the book could be quite upsetting if understood, especially for children in a similar situation.

[Amir Hossein · Rating 5 out of 5]

چطور تونست اينقدر ساده و كوتاه ، درست و عميق باشه؟و چطور همينقدر اندوهناك بود؟


يادم باشه وقتى پدر شدم ، خودم و همسرم رو مجبور كنم اين رو مدام بخونيم و يادمون باشه.

[Paul Browne]

A thought provoking picture book that raises more questions than it answers. The ending is quite a surprise.

[Hugh Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic that I somehow missed as a child but it was well worth the wait. It's a very simple story for the very young and I think would be ideal for reading aloud to a reception or KS1 class. It concerns the systematic neglect of the eponymous Bernard and his subsequent demise at the hands of a monster he meets in his garden. The monster engages in some very upsetting and destructive behaviour but is also ignored and is ultimately punished by taking Bernard's role in the household and being put to bed with a glass of milk. My favourite bit is the look on the monster's face when he realises he has doomed himself to a life of suburban maltreatment.

On a deeper reading perhaps Bernard is the monster? Perhaps, indeed, we all have a monster inside of us. But probably not.

[Francesca Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this story has a very powerful message. At first I thought it was about a monster eating Bernard but it turned out that Bernard was the monster because of him getting angry from constantly getting ignored from his parents. It was an interesting story, not a typical picture book to read.

[camilarossog · Rating 5 out of 5]

-Hay un monstruo en el jardín y me va a comer
- Ahora no, Bernardo.


Me destroza el corazón el adultocentrismo.

[Tamsin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to make of this book... on the one hand, it is a story with a strong reminder/message to parents to listen and engage with their children. But on the other hand, I did enjoy the silliness of the story, with the illustrations of the monster adapting to Bernard's life and the repetition of 'Not now, Bernard.'

A book for both adults and children.

[Kelly Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny. Opportunity to use expression for characterisation.

[Ché Constable · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my personal favourites from my own primary school days. I cannot wait to engage my future classes in reading this spectacular book with! :)

[Georgina Peachey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores a young boys struggle to gain attention from his parents as he is repeatedly told 'not now, Bernard'. This is a great picture book which can highlight to both parents and children the need to make time for each other, with fun animations to lighten the tone. The change of character to a monster represents Bernard acting out to try and get his parents attention. Overall, this book would be a great text for a child and parent to read together.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text repeats the phrase 'not now, Bernard' throughout the book which as a reader made me feel sorry for Bernard because he wasn't being listened to by his parents. During the story Bernard comes across a monster in his garden and goes in to tell his mother who responds with 'not now, Bernard', as the story carries on Bernard gets eaten up by the monster. At first I was shocked because I thought how can the story carry on from this, however, after reading on I realised that the monster was resembling Bernard's inner anger and the reason why his parents kept on saying to the 'monster' 'not now, Bernard' was because deep down it still was Bernard. This story could be explored and taught in a variety of contexts, firstly the teacher could read the text to the children to enable them to get to know the characters and the plot. Then once the children have an understanding of the text, the teacher could transform the classroom into a TV show (have an image of the TV show name on the whiteboard and set up three chairs at the front of the classroom). The teacher could pretend to be the TV presenter and set the scene, three children could act as the mum, dad and Bernard. The rest of the class as the audience could think of questions to ask each character, whilst the children ask questions the teacher could scribe key phrases and responses on the whiteboard. This activity would be an effective way for the children to get to know a text and a great way of incorporating dialogic talk into the classroom.

I found a website with a range of cross curricular teaching ideas around the book Not now, Bernard- https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/libra...

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bernard’s got a problem because he’s found a monster in the back garden but his parents are too preoccupied to notice him let alone heed his warnings. If he’s eaten, will they even notice? Beautifully written and illustrated - David McKee also created the wonderful Mr Benn - this works really well as a picture book (the monster is quite thrilling and scary to kids) but I found it incredibly sad, as an adult, to read. With his dad barely there (he’s only in two parts) and his mum only offering practical support - making him dinner, making him go to bed - Bernard is pretty much on his own, nobody eats with him and he’s expected to take himself to bed. Sad but recommended.

[Jess Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book as a child and obviously didn't read any more into it, than a monster eating Bernard.
As an adult and parent, this book gives a very strong message indeed.
Spending time with our children, listening to them and acknowledging their existence.
We are always so very 'busy', but what are we actually doing? It can probably wait.
I should read this more often to remind myself of my own parent-child relationship.

[Jess Peck · Rating 5 out of 5]

After hearing this book in a seminar it’s really made me think of how this could be incorporated into many cross curricular aspects in school.
The book is about a boy called Bernard who discovers a monster in the garden. Although it took me until the end of this book to realise this, as at first I thought Bernard had been eaten by a monster. It was actually in fact Bernard expressing his anger towards his parents who never made time to listen to him instead would just repeat “NOT NOW BERNARD”
In the future I would really like to incorporate this book into talk and drama. I would like to create a conscience alley whereby half the class could be expressing why the parents haven’t made time for him and the other half conveying why Bernard’s feelings.
I would also like to integrate hot seating, where the children could use talking partners to come up with some key questions to ask the parents and also Bernard. In turn allowing the children to understand the potential underlying reasons for the strong emotions in the book.
Other than Drama:
-children could write a story which might explain where the monster came from
- using ICT the children might design their own monster and give him/ her a story using the paint programme
-in PSHCE the children could have a group discussion on how it feels to be ignored, whilst the teacher magpies the ideas on the board.

[Hilâl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of a children's safeguarding course.

We analysed the issues presented in the story, e.g. the neglect acted out by the parents. Bernard is ignored, and his wants and warnings of danger are disregarded, leading him into the hands of an evil stranger with his parents none the wiser. The monster eats Bernard, which could suggest metaphorically that the consistent neglect from his parents led Bernard to find comfort in darker places, thus becoming a monster himself. His parents do not even notice the change in him which further pushes him into this darkness until he gets trapped in that identity and cries that he is not (and was never) the monster, but rather a product of his parents' neglect.

As a psych graduate, I thoroughly enjoyed the fascinating psychoanalysis of this children's book. We need to notice and understand the harm of these seemingly inconsequential actions in order to better protect our children.

[Becky Sparkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is all about a boy called Bernard who is very neglected and never gets attention from his parents. This is a good book about teaching children the importance of inclusion and not ignoring each other. As a result of being ignored from his parents Bernard was eaten by a monster.
Drama activity: Jeremy Kyle style show- have Bernard and his mum and dad and get the audience to ask them questions.

[Hayley Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoy this story and whilst it is very funny it also makes you really think. Sometimes when people are too busy they really don't notice what is around them and what is happening. I think it is important to take from this that those little tasks can also be done later.
This would be a useful story to get children to open up and discuss feelings, perhaps things that could be happening at home. Im sure children would also love to shout out 'not now bernard'.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bernard is ignored repetitively by his parents and is ended up being eaten up by a monster.
It is repetitive and an easy read. Bernard has a problem, as he has found a monster in the back garden, but his parents don't listen, as he tried to tell them that theres a monster and he needs help. He goes outside eventually by himself and that doesn't go to plan, as his parents are simply to busy to listen to their son.

[Jasmine Longworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book and I think children would really enjoy it and find it humorous. After discussing it and looking into the deeper meaning it provides an interesting insight into children experiencing neglect.

[Jonathan Ayres · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic from my childhood that I used to love and still love today! Bernard wants attention from his mum, but she just won't believe him or even acknowledge him so much so, that mum doesn't realise Bernard isn't there anymore... Very funny and a great read aloud book.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have just read this in the language seminar with Mat. It was so clever in the way we used this text and how everyone was engaged in it. I loved the anecdote from Mat about his previous class as well!! Will definitely be using this in the classroom.

[Luke Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious and possibly shocking exploration of what becomes of a child when they are ignored- and the monster that lurks inside all of us!