Book Summary: This is a fun book of poems that are to sung to the tunes of traditional folk songs. There is a rendition of "Go Go Go to Bed" (to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat), which is about a mother who wants her anxious and hyper son to go to bed. Then there's "I'm So Carsick" (to the tune of "Oh Susanna"), which is about a boy who is on his way to visit his grandmother but his father is driving slowly and he really does not want to go. There are vibrant and exaggerated illustrations throughout the pages and can make your stomach turn in laughter or disgust from the content (but in a good way).
Reference: Katz, A. (2001). Take me out of the bathtub and other silly dilly songs. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Impression: I enjoyed this book because I am a former music teacher who loved different renditions of old folk tunes to share with children. I wish I would have had this book while I was teaching music because it would have been extremely helpful! The poetry is very catchy and "sing-song" with it's style and flow. Katz makes sure that this book will appeal to a younger audience by having the lines rhyme and the content to be humorous and playful.
The illustrations fill the page and provide you with color and animation to go along with each poem. He over-exaggerates the characters eyes and the actions to give the poem appeal.
The poems are not long in length and can be read easily by a child who was from the age of 6-8, but I would recommend the book for ages 5-10 because it can read out loud to the younger and enjoyed by the older with it's humor.
Professional Reference:
From Publishers Weekly
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.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 3-6. Katz, a comedy writer who has worked on children's programming for Disney and Nickelodeon has created his own "silly dilly" versions of beloved childhood tunes. Kids will rejoice in the hilarious, "I'm Filthy, I'm Dirty," sung to the tune of "It's Raining, It's Pouring," and parents have songs to celebrate, too: "Go Go Go to Bed" is a clever remake of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." With the possible exception of the lesser-known "Polly, Put the Kettle On," most children will be familiar with the original versions of these songs, which will make it easy for them to join right in. Catrow's animated double-spread pictures are at least as silly as the song lyrics, offering action-filled scenes bursting with odd-looking creatures. For an easy enrichment activity, have kids create a silly-dilly adaptation of their own. Lauren Peterson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Peterson, L. (n.d.) [Review of the book Take me out of the bathtub and other silly dilly songs, by A. Katz]. Booklist. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Take-Me-Out-of-the-Bathtub-Alan-Katz/pid=1098610
Publisher's Weekly. (2001). [Review of the book Take me out of the bathtub and other silly dilly songs, by A. Katz]. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-82903-1
I would also use this for an icebreaker for a library night or family event where the parents could repeat after me as I sing the poem, and show them how they can use songs to create poems to help their child at home.
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