Bertram and His Fabulous Animals

by Paul T. Gilbert, Minnie H Rousseff (Illustrations), Barbara Maynard (Illustrations)

What child doesn't dream of bringing home a dragon or hatching a dinosaur from its egg? Lucky for Bertram, fabulous creatures just keep cropping up in his neighborhood. Unlucky for Bertram, the adventures don't always go as planned and sometimes it takes the whole family to unravel the chaos.

Illustrations by Minnie H. Rousseff and Barbara Maynard bring to life a dragon, squeazle-weasel, anting-anting, mermaid, miki-miki, and many more, in this timeless tale of childhood and imagination.

This is the first-ever updated edition of Bertram and His Fabulous Animals, originally published in 1937. Long out of print, it's back by popular demand.

Perfect for children age five through ten, the ten stories can be read in any order, aloud or alone.

Paul T. Gilbert (1876 1953) was a pioneering investigative reporter with stints as a circus acrobat and animal trainer. Child Life magazine published the Bertram stories in the 1930s and 1940s to great acclaim.

152 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2016

About the author

Paul T. Gilbert was, for the first half of the twentieth century, a career newspaperman, most notably for the Chicago Evening Post. A pioneering columnist and investigative reporter, he took on stints as a circus acrobat, animal trainer, and clown. When the Depression hit and he lost his job, Gilbert turned to writing children's stories. Child Life magazine published nearly seventy of the now-classic Bertram tales to great acclaim.

Reviews

[Donna]

Bertram soars around town on a winged horse, tries to rescue his baby brother from a roc, and has other fabulous adventures.

I liked "Bertram and His Funny Animals" a bit better than this, which involves Bertram with creatures like mermaids and the miki-miki (who stuffs himself with candy all the time). Part of the fun of the Bertram stories is the sly tweak of a normal but exotic animal (like a giraffe) interacting with a normal boy. These stories don't have that grounding so they aren't quite as effective. Still very fun, though!

[Emma]

This was a really sweet book! I love Bertram, and his stories appeal to both younger and middle level readers.