Customer Reviews

Dirty Bertie

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

 

 

My 6,4 and 2 year old all love this book. They think it is hilarious. They love to shout out "No Bertie, that's dirty Bertie" . I thought it may have been a little young for my 6 year old but I think the "oooh yuck factor" won him over. He liked it so much he couldn't wait to take it to school so his teacher could read it to the class. It makes everyone giggle and I recommend it highly , so do my kids!

What a great book. It is short but it's so incredibly funny that my girls (4 and just about to turn 3) are laughing hysterically at Bertie's disgusting habbits that when we are finished we read it all over again.

They love saying out loud - "THAT'S DIRTY BERTIE!".

It's just a great fun book to read with your kids and have a good laugh with them as well.

Wondeful illustrations.

If you can laugh at yourself a bit, and you are not afraid to talk to your child about boogers, pee and an occasional fart, you are going to have a complete blast with Bertie. We use the recurring line: "No Bertie' that's dirty Bertie!" on a regular basis in our family. The illustrations are very high quality and have inherent humor and consistency, with small recurring characters between pages. Bertie is naughty without being bad, and funnily disgusting. We have other books David Roberts has written and illustrated and find him a great children's author.

I spotted this book on the shelf of a bookstore in Greenwich, England largely due to the illustrations rather than just the content. I bought it for my then two-year-old son while we were living in London. Of course I suspected what others have confirmed in their reviews, namely that it initially taught him about some dirty habits rather than moving him away from them. But that was short-term and with repeated reading he soon learned not to______, or ______, or eat _____ and ______.

Still, we both did find it hilarious and over a year later, he's still enjoying this one. And in the long run he doesn't "wee in the flower bed", or "pick boogies from his nose", and he never eats them, so I think one can still argue that the book works. As others have written, he does love repeating "No, Bertie that's dirty Bertie!".

This year on a return trip, I managed to find another book illustrated by David Roberts at the Tate Modern Museum Shop - Cinderella (an Art Deco rendition) and it's also a great story with a modern twist.

I hope more of his books will be sold here in the US.

Some of the comments reminded me of when I was doing children's theatre and in one town the parents made us change a line in our play (which was actually taken from a mexican folk tale) from cow patty tamales to mud tamales -- as they felt saying cow patty was offensive.
If that kinda thing would offend you then I suppose this book would as well.
For the rest of the us, enjoy.

I too, purchased this book as a bargain and was quickly offended by the illustrations and word usuage. These are the sorts of things I want my children to understand ARE NOT FUNNY! The author makes light of some pretty terrible habits. I'm sure some families may feel it is appropriate, but my purchase was intended as a donation to our elementary school library. NO CAN DO! The theme is important, but I'm really not sure that the message here is a positive one. Unless of course, you consider teaching kids the worst manners a worthwhile lesson. This book should have been advertised with a message suggesting that some may be offended by the rawness of the language and naked illustrations.

I purchased this book because it was a bargain book (only $5.99) and I thought it might have a lesson for my daughter about not eating or touching yucky things. For me, I think some of the references (picking "boogers" and "eating boogers") and illustrations (Bertie and the cat "peeing" in the flower bed) are inappropriate. The book basically gives kids new ideas. When I was finished reading the book to my daughter, she proceeded to stick her finger in her nose and say "Look mom!" I would have returned the book but my daughter ripped one of the pages shortly after we read it. I also thought about donating it to the library but would have to do so anonymously because I wouldn't want my name associated with it.