Thursday, May 8, 2008

Friday Book Review: King Bidgood's in the Bathtub


King Bidgood's in the Bathtub
by Audrey Wood
illustrated by Don Wood

King Bidgood is having such a great time in his bathtub, he doesn't want to leave! In order to coax him out of the tub, the knight, the queen, the duke, and members of the court, each try to remove him from the tub by reminding him of his other kingly deeds to do. To their dismay, the king chooses to perform his activities from the bathtub! It's the small page boy who finally gets the king out of the tub.

The pictures are fantastic! It's no surprise this book won a Caldecott. The story moves by quite quickly, sometimes with only one sentence on the page-not nearly enough time to look at everything going on in the pictures! The story's "poetic lyrics" might take a little practicing to get a good rhythm. Once you figure that out, the story has a fun bounce to it. I do like the story, but like I said, it's the amazing pictures that make this book a home library must-have!

Enrichment: Look ahead in the book before you read it together. As you're reading it together, stop just before it is revealed how the king gets out of the tub. Ask your child to predict how the king finally got out of the tub.

Buy It: Available in hardcover on Amazon.com for $11.56 with Free Super Saver Shipping. I really recommend it in hardcover, especially because you can buy for it in like new-used condition in Amazon.com's used & new section for $.05 (plus $3.99 shipping). Or, it is available on Overstock.com right now for $11.60 (plus $2.95 shipping) with the musical cd (haven't heard it, but it's only gotten good reviews--catchy tunes for kids).

4 comments:

Rachel said...

This book is a family favorite at our house, and I agree 100% with the comments regarding the artwork. Amazing. And while I thought we were in the know already about this book, we were unaware the book had an accompanying cd. Thanks for the info!

Bippert Family said...

I love children's books! I can't wait to read this one to my boy. Have you read MARS NEEDS MOMS ? (It being Mother's Day and all...) It's by Berkeley Breathed and I think it's a winner too. I love the illustrations as well. Check it out!
-J

Sherie said...

Bippert Family: Glad we've found a new one for you!
I will definitely be checking out "Mars Needs Moms." With my son's fascination with aliens I thought we'd scoured the earth for all such books. He'll be excited that we've found a new one! Thanks for the recommendation! Keep 'em coming!

Summer said...

I love this book, I have had it since I was 5, over 20 years and last year I started a sleeve tattoo dedicated to the characters!