These are two of the funniest kids’ books I’ve read as an adult. Bert and Bart are the prototype Ameritrash bad
boys, only interested in transforming every/any artefact into a weapon to
recreate their fantasy battles. In this case against aliens.
Bert and Bart Save the World. Now with extra aliens! |
The
real opponent in these books is their mother Viola, a treehugging fairy that just wants everything to
be nice. So in the first book she
removes their weapons and forces them into a regime of art and treehugging,
with limited success.
Hug the tree and like it! |
This leaves
earth defenceless at the arrival of the aliens whose desire to destroy earth is
only limited by their fear of Bert and Bart´s deadly weapons. Bert and Bart have to improvise to
save the world.
The great
thing about these books is the seamless match between text and illustrations.
The deadpan conversations between Bert and Bart are matched by sullen,
confused, bemused and bored expressions. Not easy to pull off.
Well, you asked us to draw fairies... |
Bert And Bart And The Kiss Of The Zombie. Contains Over 46 Zombies! |
Of course
doctor Dwangman has scientific evidence that reading is bad for kids and they
are forced to exercise. Also, all the zombie comics have been removed from the
library. But the librarian has another book left, the zombie destruction manual, which they are allowed to borrow under the condition that they don’t
use the spell on page 37.
Guess what happens...
Bert and
Bart set out to use the zombies in an effort to rid themselves of doctor Dwangman.
Obviously
the authors are aware that their style of storytelling goes against the
educational correctness of more tender hearted parents. The second book has
markers on the back denoting violence and zombie guinea pigs in a parody on
parental advisory warnings ...
Parental Advisory: 47 zombiers per 100 pages |
...and two pages of possible complaints. With the
suggestion to send them all to wastebin@bertenbart.nl
Hamsters Suck! |
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