about the book
With bleary eyes and sagging shoulders, this big bear has never been more tired. He could sleep for days…weeks…months! With his little pink stuffed bunny trailing along, he heads for bed. All snuggled in, he conks right out.
Next door, a wired yellow duck guzzles another cup of java and declares he is bored. He’ll head right over to bear’s place and together they can have some fun. Duck waddles over in the dark night and bangs on the bear’s front door.
Half-awake, the exhausted bear opens the door and the plucky ducky barges right in, suggesting a game of cards or a smoothie and a movie. Anything to have some fun. The grouchy Bear promptly sends the duck home, with a grumpy “Goodnight Already!”
Well. the yellow pest is still not tired and has plenty of ideas. He’s right back knocking on bear’s door with the suggestion of starting a rock band. Once again, the overly energetic duck gets shown the door by the very frazzled pooped out bear, who just barely manages a semi-polite “Goodnight Already!!!”
Well, this annoying duck doesn’t take the hint, and he’s soon back at bear’s door. What happens when sleep is just not an option for Bear?
about the author
Jory John is a funny guy. He got his start at 826 Valencia, an educational nonprofit in San Francisco.
On his first day interning for 826, Jory met Mac Barnett, who was also starting an internship. The two became fast friends while working on projects and binge-watching TV. Eventually, Jory and Mac decided to channel some of the energy they use to prank each other into writing a book together. The result is The Terrible Two, a story about a pair of formidable pranksters.
Jory’s work process involves going to Starbucks with about one hundred 3×5 index cards and writing one idea per card for an hour. A few days later, he’ll look at the ideas he wrote down, weed out 95% of them, and try to figure out how to make the remaining ideas work. Then he writes and revises the piece until it’s done.
Before he became a full-time writer (and prankster), Jory worked for six years at 826 as the program director. He still volunteers at the nonprofit when he’s not writing picture books, articles, comics, or grocery lists.
Shel Silverstein is his favorite author and illustrator, though he says, “I fully retain the right to change my answer at any given moment, depending on my mood, memories, and what’s sitting directly in my line of sight.”
Sources:
Author website
Author spotlight: Publishers Weekly
Author interview: Kinderlit
Author interview: Horn Book
Also by Jory John:
I Love You Already! Harper Collins. 2015.
I Will Chomp You! Random House Books for Young Readers. 2015.
about the illustrator
Benji Davies is an illustrator, an author, and an animation director. He lives in the northeast Waltamstow area of London with his wife, Nina, a fashion designer. It was her idea for a book about a bear that could not sleep. The publisher contacted Jory John to write up the story and Benji came up with all the drawings. That is how Goodnight Already! came to be. (If you like the bear and duck characters, the plans are to make it into a series.)
Benji studied animation at the University of Hull and worked on a diverse variety of projects: short animated films, music videos, commercials, and of course, picture books.
The books he has self-penned and illustrated have been reprinted in many languages around the world. The pictures usually come first. He starts with pencils and finishes by scanning and working digitally. His style of illustration changes with the mood of the book. Sometimes his best ideas come when he is just doodling or sketching something else. Then he has to stop and just get it down on paper before the idea gets lost in his mind! After a bit of pondering it all comes together to form a story, so in the end, it really doesn’t matter if he begins with the words or with the drawings. Benji’s studio is in a spare cluttered room of his house.
Benji grew up in the small UK city of Peterborough, and he has been drawing since a very young age. It was always “his thing” at school. His granddad and an aunt inspired him by exchanging letters and drawings. He spent summers at his aunt’s place where she ran the local art club, and they would all visit and paint together.
Now that he has made a name for himself as a book illustrator, he is hoping to combine all his talents and bring his very own stories to the animated screen.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator interview: Miss Marple’s Musings
Illustrator interview: Work Inspiration
Illustrator interview: Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Also by Benji Davies:
Big Friends by Linda Sarah. Henry Holt & Company. 2016.
I Love You Already! by Jory John. Harper Collins. 2015.
I Thought This Was a Bear Book by Tara Lazar. Aladdin. 2014.
Railroad Hank by Lisa Moser. Random House Books for Young Readers. 2012.
Hodge the Hedgehog by Amy Sparkes. Worthwhile Books. 2009.
read more!
I Love You Already! by Jory John
Bear is looking forward to a quiet morning sipping tea and reading. His neighbor, Duck, wants to go for a walk and spend some quality time with his friend. When Bear answers all of the chatty duck’s questions with single word answers, Duck fears Bear really doesn’t like him. In exasperation, Bear exclaims over and over, “I LIKE YOU ALREADY.” Will it be enough to reassure the duckling?
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
Time for bed! Papa Rooster reminds his daughter, Little Red Hen, that she mustn’t interrupt the story. But as soon as Hansel and Gretel approach the gingerbread house, the enthusiastic chick abruptly ends the story in her own soft-hearted way. After two more stories, Papa Rooster gives up and suggests that Little Red Hen write her own story!
Time for Bed, Fred! by Yasmeen Ismail
It is Fred’s bedtime and that means a bath, a story, and a snuggly tuck-in. But Fred is a scruffy dog and he’d much rather be splashing in muddy puddles and hiding in trees, baskets, and even a book shelf. He will do anything to avoid bedtime. But when his young owner finally catches him, will he settle down in his own bed…or someplace else?