THE ADVENTURES OF BERT

Top-drawer, absurd entertainment from two English masters of the droll. Bert is a victim—of the fates, of misunderstandings, of his two left feet—but he is also an agent of good, a man of pluck, ever an optimist. Bert’s a force, no matter how ridiculous. First readers greet Bert, then his wife, then his baby: “Meet Baby Bert. Don’t say hallo to him. He is fast asleep. Shh! Turn the page . . . quietly. WAAAAA! Oh no! Now look what you’ve done.” Then Bert has the first of his adventures, in a shirt that gets stuck on his head, making him fall down the stairs and out into the street and onto the bed of a truck that takes him to Scotland. He hitchhikes home in the rain. Forty-seven words in total and some of the broadest humor one could ever hope for, not to mention the color-pencil artwork that practically has readers falling down the stairs right along with Bert. The second adventure finds Bert being chased by a giant sausage and running smack into a lamppost (“Bert bangs his nose”) before he discovers it is only a man in a sausage suit, selling sausages. The last adventure has Bert diving into a river to save a barking box. (Bert, of course, can’t swim.) This is brilliant stuff: simple tales that unleash great ponderings, like Bert’s role in the universe. He could—believe it—be a savior of a sort. Bring us more Bert, please. (Picture book. 3-6)