Just Because: A Book to Help You Answer Your Kids' Questions
When our son was about 4-years-old, he asked a lot of “why” questions. He’s an inquisitive little guy, and it’s very endearing, but he was probably asking “why?” way more than his fair share. Now, if he’s ever genuinely curious about things, I’m obviously more than happy to answer him. But what he developed was that funny habit where he asked one question, and then he asked “why” following my answer about 20 times in a row just to be silly. Then you go back and forth until it seems there’s no reasonable answer left except for “just because.”
It was such a running gag in our house that we even wrote and illustrated a picture book together called The Why Monster. It’s about a normal little boy who wanders into a cave, falls into a mysterious goo that affects his DNA, and returns home to bombard his parents with a never-ending string of “why” questions. It’s basically an instant-classic.
Another endearing habit of his (one that still endures to this day) is that his brain is by far the most active at bedtime. He gets all of his best ideas at bedtime, and he can sometimes spend hours asking questions or talking about his plans after getting under the covers. Perhaps there are other parents out there who can relate to this funny phenomenon. It’s endlessly adorable, but of course the timing is slightly inconvenient.
These fun adventures in parenting left me very open to the concept of Mac Barnett’s picture book Just Because. The setting of the book is a child tucked into bed, asking their dad a string of classic, difficult-to-answer questions like “why is the sky blue” and “what happened to the dinosaurs?”. And the big joke here is that the dad answers each question with the most imaginative and ridiculous explanation he can think of.
From my point of view, I like to imagine that the dad in the book is having a little fun with this game - and he’s answering all of the questions with a tiny bit of facetiousness or sarcasm. That, of course, is a little bit of a dark interpretation from a parent’s point of view - but it’s also important to point out that this book is anything but dark. It’s really quite the opposite.
In truth, the dad is actually demonstrating remarkable patience with his child. He’s displaying a zen attitude to be admired. Instead of losing his patience with the string of questions and answering with a dismissive and predictable “just because”, he turns the moment into a bonding moment that brings his child joy.
And, most important of all, he’s sparking their creativity and imagination. He’s not having fun at the expense of the kid, they’re unmistakably having fun together. And that, of course, is an important distinction. The dad is stoking the fires of imagination and instilling childlike wonder. And that’s a concept I can very much get on board with.
The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault are the absolute perfect companions to Barnett’s text. We had a good feeling going into this book that it was going to be something special, because it paired together the work of one of our favorite authors and one of our favorite illustrators. And we were absolutely right, because Arsenault’s illustrations are ideal for the dream-like world of imagination that this book lives in, and they bring to life the dad’s answers with beautiful perfection.
Imagination is without a doubt the driving force behind this story. And that’s ultimately a big reason why we fell in love with this book. I take imagination very seriously, and I have a soft spot for books that effectively promote childlike wonder - and take it as seriously as I do.
The silly, light-hearted back-and-forth between father and child makes Just Because one of the funniest picture books we’ve read in a long time. In fact, it made our list of the funniest picture books of 2019. And light-hearted is exactly how I’d describe the tone for about 95% of the book. The answers given by the dad really are hilarious. And they’re so creative that our kids will very likely remember them forever. If you ask our son about black holes in outer space when he’s 40 years old, he’ll probably think about the mouths of dinosaurs.
But, right at the end, on the final two-page spread, the tone changes slightly. All of the sudden, you’re hit with a very effective emotional wallop that demonstrates how serious this book takes its promotion of imagination. The child asks the final question - “Why do we have to sleep?”. And the book pairs a stunning montage of images from the story with the thoughtful words:
“Because there are some things we can only see with our eyes closed.”
This final spread would make a beautiful poster, and I’d very much like to hang it on my wall. The dad leaves us with the perfect answer, and it’s a wonderful way to close the book. And maybe, just maybe, it might be a convincing enough answer for our own kids to fall asleep to.
Barnett and Arsenault have created one of the best bedtime books of all time as far as I’m concerned. And, frankly, the dad in this story is a pretty great role model for all of us. The title of the book itself turns out to be ironic, because “just because” is a phrase the dad never utters. And every single time I read it to the kids I can’t help but reflect on that and draw a little inspiration from it - the same way I do when I listen to Fred Rogers talk to kids.
Just Because is a drop-dead gorgeous book, and it will always remain on our shelf. It will forever remind me of my own little Why Monster, and also why it’s more than worth it to always keep answering - the best that I can.
Do your kids’ brains work overtime at nighttime as well? Have you read Just Because before? Give it a read and let us know if it helps give you that zen attitude to answer all of your kids’ questions with patience and imagination.
