Module 14 - Take Me Out of the Bathtub

Bibliography

Katz, A. (2001). Take Me Out of the Bathtub and other silly dilly songs. (D. Catrow, Illus.). New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Summary

This book is a collection of unique, silly poems about kids: A boy who’s been sitting too long in the bathtub and wants to get out; a food fight between siblings; a girl having to clean up her bedroom; a baby brother’s stinky diaper; a kid who doesn’t want to go to bed; a kid with an overdue library book; a kid playing in the mud; and a girl who gets carsick, just to name a few. Each poem is set to a familiar tune, such as “London Bridge,” “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring,” “Rockabye Baby,” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

My Thoughts

Such a delightful book!  I loved it because the poems were amusing and imaginative.  I especially loved that I could sing these silly poems to familiar tunes.  The illustrations were amazing.  I think children will love this book.  The front cover of the book lists an age group of 2-6, but I think kids of all ages will get a kick out of this book.

Reviews

“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 interprets quite literally (he shows her bureau, goldfish, etc., piling up in the back yard), and “Give Me a Break” (sung to the tune “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 cranky poodle – think “Yankee Doodle”) teamed with Catrow’s outlandish illustrations, as hyperbolic as the words, will have kids giggling as they sing.”

Zaleski, J., D. Roback, J.M. Brown, J. Britton. (April 2001). [Review of the Book Take Me Out of the Bathtub and other silly dilly songs by Alan Katz]. Publishers Weekly 248(16), p 63.

Ideas for Use

This would be a wonderful story time book in which you could sing the poems to the children rather than reading them.  Also, the children could be involved by repeating the lines of the poems/songs.