Two of our Guest Editors chose Not Now, Bernard - celebrating it's 35th anniversary in 2015 - as one of their favourite books.
Sophie Mckenzie 'This dark, rather depressing picture book opened my eyes to what was possible with children's writing. Adults often assume kids should be protected from what scares or threatens them in literature, but Not now, Bernard, helped me to realise that nothing needs to be taboo - its all in how you treat the material.'
and chosen by Michael Rosen. 'An Andersen classic, this well-loved picture book story is about parents too preoccupied to notice their own child! They are so busy doing their own thing, that a monster can eat Bernard's dinner, break his toys, and even eat Bernard, without being noticed! An hilarious cautionary tale.'
Bernard's got a problem: he's found a monster in the back garden but his mum and dad are just too busy to notice. So Bernard tries to befriend the monster… and that doesn't go quite to plan.
David McKee's iconic picture book is loved by children, monsters and adults for forty years.
'...even more relevant in an era of parents glued to their mobile phones' DAILY MAIL, Best Reads Ever
'Arguably the finest children's book ever written, McKee's clever fable is both a warning to neglectful parents and a very funny story about being ignored.' THE i NEWSPAPER
'My favourite books for very young children are Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and Not Now Bernard by David McKee.' Michael Rosen
'Not Now Bernard is THE book of our times' Frank Cottrell-Boyce
'It's so good!' Adam Buxton
'Funny to a four year old and meaningful to a 36 year old' Ben Bailey Smith aka Doc Brown
David McKee (January 1935 – April 2022) was born in Devon and studied at Plymouth Art College. In the early part of his career, McKee regularly drew and sold humorous drawings to magazines and newspapers such as The Times Educational Supplement, Punch and the Reader’s Digest.
David McKee wrote and illustrated over 50 picture books for Andersen Press and penned a number of children’s classics including King Rollo, Mr Benn, Not Now Bernard and of course, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant.
