Module 14: "Take Me Out of the Bathtub" by Alan Katz

Book Cover Image:                  www.alankatzbooks.com/katzsillybooks.html

Book Summary:
Take me out of the bathtub contains 14 parodied rhyming verses based on popular children’s nursery rhymes and songs.  David Catrow’s double-paged watercolor and crayon spreads add to the appeal of this silly and entertaining book.  There are enough food fights and zany activities to keep children laughing.

APA Reference:  

Katz, A. (2001).  Take me out of the bathtub. New York, N.Y: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

My Impressions:

The catchy rhymes and humorous situations will have children giggling non-stop!  I enjoyed it as I read through it.  The illustrations really add to the enjoyment as well.

This book was nominated for many awards, including state awards in Colorado and Kentucky, the Book Sense Book of the Year (2002), and the Cuffie Award for Funniest Book by Publisher’s Weekly.

Professional Review:

Songwriter and television comedy writer Katz provides ludicrous lyrics to 14 traditional tunes, offering playful parodies on some familiar routines. To the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," a boy wearing roller skates claims he has been soaking so long in the tub that he "used one, two, three bars of soap/ Take me out... I'm clean!" Other amusing entries include "I've Been Cleaning Up My Bedroom" (sung to "I've Been Working on the Railroad"), in which a girl tidies her room by shoving all of her belongings "out the door," which Catrow (She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!) interprets quite literally (he shows her bureau, goldfish, etc., piling up in the back yard), and "Give Me a Break" (sung to the tune of "Home on the Range"), introducing a child whose library book is long overdue. A few songs do not scan so well (e.g., this verse set to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean": "My brother flicks peas with his fork and/ They zip down my shirt with a splat/ Next I see a big piece of pork land/ On my head like it's a new hat!"). But the subjects (a sibling with a stinky diaper, a youngster who refuses to go to bed, a cranky poodle think "Yankee Doodle") teamed with Catrow's outlandish illustrations, as hyperbolic as the words, will have kids giggling as they sing. Ages 2-6.

[Review of the book Take me out of the bathtub by A. Katz].  (2001, April 16).  Publishers Weekly
 248(16).  63.  Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com.

Library Uses:

This would be a wonderful book to read aloud during a Storytime of with school tours!  Sometimes the visiting time is limited to ½ hour with first-grade tours, and this book would hold their interest and let them know that the library is a fun place to go.