You Can Do It, Bert!

You Can Do It, Bert! written and illustrated by Ole Konnecke (2015)

You can count on Bert to do whatever he says he will do… even if it’s scary. And today, Bert has said he was going to jump from the highest branch into the water below. But can he do it? He looks down, he takes a running start, he goes back for a snack, and finally with eyes closed Bert takes the plunge.

I love when I find picture books with a simple text and simple pictures. This one comes in at only 63 words, exactly the same number of words I used to summarize it. The best part, though, is that I could read it 63 times and still not get tired of it!

Now, I’m not sure if the birds in this story are flamingos or not, but I’m going with it…

Flamingos wade into the water with their very long legs, but they do swim once they are in deeper water. They float on the water while fishing as well. But there is no evidence that flamingos dive. (Oh well, Bert, good try.)

Here’s a simple heart shaped flamingo made with pink pipe cleaners and a feathers.

Let kiddos find out what sinks and what floats with an easy to assemble science investigation. Collect small objects and predict which will sink and which will float. Separate them into two piles. Then test each one in a bucket of water.