Not Now, Bernard: Board Book: 1

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As Sheila Hancock wrote in The Independent, this book “demonstrates that parents can be naughty too”. 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. on the one hand, it is a story with a strong reminder/message to parents to listen and engage with their children.

It is a thin volume about denial and negligence, making its point with few words and colourful illustrations. 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. If you require any changes to this format please indicate in 'special requirements' box at checkout.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. The teacher could pretend to be the TV presenter and set the scene, three children could act as the mum, dad and Bernard. Yes I agree the story may not be the nicest with the parents ignoring their child, but my toddler focuses more on the monster doing human funny things like laying in the bed and saying night night.

It concerns the systematic neglect of the eponymous Bernard and his subsequent demise at the hands of a monster he meets in his garden. 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. 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. 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. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006.

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. Sterling has depreciated, but without the compensating boost to export competitiveness that might be expected from a currency devaluation. Bernard's parents are so busy doing their own thing, that the monster can eat Bernard's dinner, break his toys, and even eat Bernard, without being noticed! Liz Truss, the likely winner of the leadership contest, insists otherwise with the vehemence of a zealous convert. The change of character to a monster represents Bernard acting out to try and get his parents attention.