Not Now, Bernard

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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.

Not Now Bernard | The Story Museum Not Now Bernard | The Story Museum

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. 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. The author uses the word ‘said’ a lot in the story. Can you think of any synonyms that would be more suitable in each sentence? Print off the diary sheet provided so that your child can draw some of the things the monster does in the story. Draw a monster 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.Write a sequel to the story, explaining how Bernard escaped and managed to return home to his family. Bernard is a small boy who tries and fails to get his parents’ attention; they’re just too busy to notice what he’s getting up to! Even when a monster appears in his garden and wants to eat him, all Bernard hears is, “Not Now Bernard!”

Not Now, Bernard | BookTrust

Write a story for the newspaper that Bernard’s father reads, about the sighting of a monster in the local area. Share favourite parts of the story or favourite illustrations. Talk about anything that puzzles your child, for example why Bernard’s parents don’t listen to him. Join in 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. Read the story aloud to your child allowing time to look closely at the illustrations as you do. Children are often fascinated with these, particularly when Dad gets hurt with the hammer and bitten by the monster! Talk about the book Print off the template provided then your child can colour the mask and wear it to act out parts of the story. Write the monster’s diaryWhen you read the story again encourage your child to join in, perhaps with Bernard’s words or the chorus of ‘Not Now Bernard’. Children might also enjoy adding sound effects for example when dad hurts himself or when the monster munching Bernard. Watch the story All Bernard wanted to do was engage in conversation with his mum and dad, but they kept brushing him off. 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.

Not now, Bernard - Newton International School Not now, Bernard - Newton International 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” A perennial favourite, what parent hasn't said "not now, Bernard" but beware, there might be a Monster lurking there....! The sentences in the story are all quite short. Could you use a connective to join some of them together? Does this improve the story? 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. Age 3-7 This classic picture book explores a theme which is very real to children, wanting adult attention and being ignored. Bernard’s parents are just too busy and distracted to take notice of Bernard even when he is replaced by a monster that has eaten him. A very amusing story which is just as appealing to adults as it is to children.

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. 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. Using crayons and a large sheet of paper your child could draw their own monster, encourage them to talk to you about their picture.

Not Now, Bernard by David McKee | Goodreads

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. Look at the different shades of each colour in the pictures. Can you recreate these shades (and make your own) by mixing colours? 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. 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.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. Books about monsters are fantastic ways to engage toddlers and younger children. From humour to early learning, these books contain some of the most friendly monsters you've evr met.