Just Because

Curious minds are rewarded with curious answers in a fantastical bedtime book by Mac Barnett and Isabelle Arsenault.

Why is the ocean blue? What is rain? What happened to the dinosaurs?

It might be time for bed, but one child is too full of questions about the world to go to sleep just yet. Little ones and their parents will be charmed and delighted as a patient father offers up increasingly creative responses to his child’s night-time wonderings. Any child who has ever asked “Why?” – and any parent who has attempted an explanation – will recognize themselves in this sweet storybook for dreamers who are looking for answers beyond “Just because”.

Biographical note

Mac Barnett is the author of several books for children, including Extra Yarn, illustrated by Jon Klassen, which won a Caldecott Honor and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse and the Shape trilogy (Triangle, Square and Circle), all illustrated by Jon Klassen. Mac lives in California, USA. Find him online at macbarnett.com and on Instagram as @macbarnett.

Isabelle Arsenault has already achieved international recognition for her work and won many awards and distinctions, including the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature (three times!). Jane, the Fox & Me and Migrant were New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year. She is also the illustrator of the picture books Once Upon a Northern Night, written by Jean E. Pendziwol, and Alpha. Isabelle lives and works in Montreal, Canada. Find Isabelle online at isabellearsenault.com and on Instagram as @isabelle_arsenault.