Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Bert

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was surprised that this book had so few words in it - maybe that's what makes it so popular with my 3 year old and 20 month old! (Me, too!) The pictures are lively, Bert is built like a sausage with legs and red hair, and is as unthreatening and jolly a protagonist I've seen in children's books. The kids love having to say "Hallo" , then "Good night" to Bert and Mrs. Bert - and the beginning and end, when they are instructed to turn thepage very, very quietly, so as not to wake baby Bert - then find baby Bert yelling "Waaaaaa" on the next page - "Now look what you've done!" - hysterical every time. They start snorting and chuckling before I've even turned the page. This book is a surprise favorite. I'm very glad I bought it as I was disappointed at first it was so short - it's silly, happy, and delightful and I would advise anyone who has a 1 - 4 year old to buy it.

My five-year-old daughter chooses this hilarious children's book again and again.

This is the first collaboration for these two author/illustrators, and a fine one it is. Bert is a solid, silly fellow, who along with his wife, likes to drink his tea in bed. Five short segments introduce the reader to Bert, his wife and baby, and show him in some silly adventures, such as winding up in Scotland, because he couldn't get his shirt over his big head properly, running away from a giant sausage (a costumed vendor), and rescuing a puppy from drowning. The funniest bits are at the beginning and end, when the reader is instructed to turn the page very carefully so as not to disturb the baby, but of course that is impossible! Easy to read large print and very short "chapters" will make this a fun book for beginning readers, and the bright, humorous illustrations will make it a fun read-aloud for preschool or kindergarten storytime.

When our daughter was in preschool, this book cracked her up...and us, too. Now, a few years later, our son is in preschool and he loves this book: fast action, short chapters, lots of humor and just a bit of tension (what is in the box in the river??? why is a sausage chasing Bert???). Definitely a favorite, and in my mom-reading-the-same-books-over-and-over-again experience, it won't drive you crazy and it's even better for boys than girls. Why Allan Ahlberg isn't famous and all his books aren't bestsellers for children, I do not understand.

I bought this book because I am a fan of Raymond Briggs, but I found it very disappointing. There are 5 short chapters in this book. The first and the last are almost identical (saying hello and goodnight to the Bert family in bed) and the middle 3 are very brief, poorly developed and lack a meaningful storyline. There seems to be no relationship or flow between the chapters either - it's just a jumbled mishmash. In Chapter 2, Bert buys a new shirt, and when it gets stuck on his head, he rolls out on the street and ends up in a lorry on his way to Scotland. And there the "story" ends - it just doesn't go anywhere. In Chapter 3, he is frightened by a man in sausage suit, in Chapter 4 he rescues a puppy from the river. The illustrations are quite charming, but the text is uninvolving. My 19 month old son really enjoys reading books (like Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and We're Going on a Bear Hunt) but shows minimal interest in this one.

A great first "chapter book". The book is interactive with places to say hello & goodnight to the characters. My son laughs out loud in several places. The artwork is really fun.