THE ADVENTURES OF BERT (2001)      author: Allan Ahlberg illustrator: Raymond Briggs publisher: Viking Books                  32 colour pages
				___________________________________________________________________      'Meet Bert.    This is him.    Say hallo to Bert.' This fab picture book tells and depicts five chapters - or 'adventures' - in the life of Bert. Bert has a Wife (Mrs Bert) and a child (Baby Bert), and if you're not careful turning the page, you'll wake the young 'un up and get a right ticking off! So, proceeding quietly, those five adventures are titled thus: Chapter 1: Bert Chapter 2: Bert And The Shirt Chapter 3: Bert And The Sausage Chapter 4: Bert And The Cardboard Box Chapter 5: Goodnight, Bert! The episodes are brief but bright and presented with exquisite simplicity: Simple text from Ahlberg, simple illustrations from Briggs. Take chapter two, in which Bert tries on his new rugby shirt, tumbles downstairs, out of the front door and into the back of a truck bound for Thurso. And that's it. The chapter ends with a bedraggled but smiling Bert stuck in the middle of The Highlands. Poor chap. According to the inside cover info, Bert was born by writer Allan Ahlberg in October 1999. He then invited Briggs to illustrate the five adventures. Briggs' response: 'I would like to have a bert at them. I agree completely with the suggested style: simple and bert, i.e. no detailed backgrounds...' Allan Ahlberg is a renowned children's writer whose works fill the shelves of High Street book stores. 'Peepo!', 'The Jolly Postman', 'Burglar Bill', 'Each Peach Pear Plum' - the list goes on. 'Bert' is yet another gem to add to his enviable CV. In 2002, Ahlberg and Briggs brought us an equally adventurous sequel... See also: A Bit More Bert                                                                                                     PREVIOUS                                                                                                                                                      NEXT