Not Now, Bernard is a 1980 children's book written and illustrated by David McKee.
Bernard is a young boy who tries to get his parents' attention, but they just keep saying "Not now, Bernard." When he tries to tell them that there is a monster outside, they still aren't concerned. So he goes outside and tries to face the monster himself, only for the monster to eat him up. The monster goes back inside and begins menacing Bernard's parents, but gets met with the same reaction. They serve him dinner and send him to bed, completely unaware of what has transpired.
It was adapted as an episode of Anytime Tales.
This book provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: Bernard's parents are extremely neglectful and fail to notice that Bernard has been eaten.
- Ambiguous Gender: The monster is never referred to by gender.
- Amusing Injuries: When Bernard tries to say hello to his father, he accidentally smashes his finger with a hammer. He cries out in pain and his face turns lucid green. Later on, the monster bites Bernard’s father and his reaction is pretty much the same, only his face turns purple.
- Befriending the Enemy: When Bernard realizes that his parents aren’t going to help him with the monster in the garden, he goes outside and politely says hello to the monster. He doesn’t quite get the reaction he was hoping for, though…
- Cassandra Truth: Bernard tries to alert his mother that there’s a monster outside, but she doesn’t buy it and just ignores him.
- Downer Ending: Bernard gets eaten by the monster and his parents don’t even notice. They just send the monster to bed, not even catching on that their son isn't there anymore. The monster isn't happy, either, since everyone ignores it.
- Dramatic Irony: Bernard is Eaten Alive by a monster after trying and failing to tell his parents about it. When the monster tries to then menace the boy's parents, they think he's Bernard and tell him, "Not now, Bernard, I'm busy."
- Failed a Spot Check: Bernard's parents don't realize that the monster doesn't look like their son in the slightest, even when it's right in front of them.
- Gory Discretion Shot: We never actually get to see the monster eating Bernard. Instead, there’s just an illustration of the monster licking its lips and clutching one of Bernard’s trainers.
- Jabba Table Manners: The monster is shown to be quite a messy eater, as shown when it is given Bernard’s dinner and just dumps the entire plate into its mouth.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Bernard can't get any of the grownups to pay attention to a monster that's menacing him. Then the monster eats him. Then the monster can't get the grownups to pay attention to it, either. The trope even used to be named after this book!
- Parental Neglect: Bernard’s parents don’t seem to care about their son very much, seeing as how they always ignore him. This trope is taken even further later in the story when we see that Bernard’s parents don’t even eat with him - they just leave his dinner in front of the TV and walk away.
- Parental Obliviousness: The epitome of the trope. Bernard sees a monster in the garden. He tells various adults, including his parents. They all say, "Not now, Bernard." The monster eats him. The monster goes inside. The parents say, "Not now, Bernard." The end.
It's every child's nightmare. Then the story's ending turns hilarious. The parents are so oblivious that they actually mistake the monster for their son and the monster is so utterly confused by the turn of events that he just sort of goes along for the ride. The look on his face at the end after they tuck him into bed is priceless. - Space Whale Aesop: Pay attention to your children or they may get eaten by a monster.
- The Stoic: Bernard’s parents rarely show any emotion, and Bernard doesn't seem overly concerned when the monster wants to eat him.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When the monster roars at Bernard’s mother, she doesn’t seem fazed at all.
