Just Because

Praise

The exacting, exquisite phrasing electrifies readers, and full-bleed illustrations pull them into an extraordinary alternate universe…Matte paper, flat colors, conventional & typesetting, and a mid-20th-century look to the light-skinned people conjure a retro feel, allowing the unexpected, original answers to stand out even more. Charming, playful, and extraordinary imaginings will galvanize young minds to find inspired answers to their own questions.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Arsenault’s strikingly detailed artwork depicts the bedroom scenes in grays, blacks, and soft whites…A charming celebration of bedtime rituals and parent-child affection, this book also underscores the importance of fostering imagination and wonderment while nurturing young minds.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Barnett (The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown) offers a comic look at that famous childhood bedtime-delaying tactic, the difficult question…Arsenault’s imaginative power enhances a thin, nevertheless enjoyable, text.
—Publishers Weekly

This is a clever launch pad for curious children and adults. The large trim size and double pages done in gouache, pencil, and watercolor, assembled digitally, are replete with details both realistic and fanciful.
—Booklist