On this Valentine’s Day we are recommending a true love story that left paw prints on our hearts, The Life and Adventures of Bert, by Anderson Graham. It is the tale of our friend, Bert, a Labrador Retriever from Scotland, whose journey began under humble circumstances. However, by the time he crossed Rainbow Bridge he left paw prints on the hearts of friends around the world. Thanks to a chance meeting one night on the streets of Glasgow in 2013, Bert and his Dad formed a bond that made them inseparable, as they set out together on a grand adventure filled with love.
This book will make you smile, laugh out loud, and cry, as Bert’s Dad shares their journey together. However, this isn’t a book about extraordinary exploits. Instead it captures the beauty of the little moments that make daily life with a dog so special. Each chapter begins with a poem written from Bert’s perspective, with illustrations by John Heim that perfectly capture his personality. The chapters chronicle those events in greater detail from early triumphs after being rescued, to family milestones, to growing older and saying goodbye for now. Included in the book are family photographs of Bert, further illustrating the beautiful bond they shared.
However, what makes this book different from the many other books about dogs out there, is it was genuinely written from the heart. Graham did not set out to become an author. Nor did he even suspect that his dog would rise to fame as a beloved member of Dog Twitter. He began writing this book one year after Bert’s passing as a means to heal and to keep Bert’s treasured memories alive. As Graham explains, “I wrote this story because my love for Bert is beyond words, and I believe he deserves a memorial and tribute of his life. I hope to portray him as he was; not a ‘Superdog,’ but just a super dog.” During the writing process, he was very kind to let his friends on X (formerly Twitter) come along on this journey, sharing the trials and tribulations of this emotional writing process. And yes there were trials with multiple revisions, learning the process of publishing, looming publisher deadlines, and even a computer glitch with lost edits, but through it all the love and determination to tell Bert’s stories shined through.
On a personal note, we met Bert on X sometime in 2020. He became such a big part of our lives sharing with wit and wisdom his walks along “Bert’s Loch,” his farm friends, and just the ordinary moments of daily life during lockdown, that it surprised us to realize Bert was only on social media for 7 months before his passing. It felt like we were friends for far longer. The book, The Life and Adventures of Bert, came out just before Christmas 2022. However, our Mom didn’t get a chance to read it until February 2023. To this day, she’s not sure why in the rush to get Asa to the emergency room, she grabbed this book as something to read outside in the parking lot while they waited in the car during surgery, due to pandemic rules. But she is so grateful that she did. Bert’s story is one of resiliency and love, and in the days following Asa’s surgery, it was exactly the message that Mom needed to read.
So on this Valentine’s Day, treat yourself to this book written from the heart. You can purchase The Life and Adventures of Bert by Anderson Graham on Amazon (US) / Amazon (UK), and you can follow Bert’s continuing legacy through his siblings Albert and Bera on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram. If you’re already someone blessed to know Bert, today is a good time to “plop” and “plod” along the countryside of Scotland with him again through this love story.
“Bert’s life is celebrated through his stories, but no story lives on unless someone wants to listen and hear it.” ~ Anderson Graham, The Life and Adventures of Bert. Thank you to Bert’s family for sharing your love story of this super dog with all of us. His legacy WILL live on and be treasured.
