The Green Bath - Hardcover

Margaret Mahy (1936-2012) worked as a librarian in her native New Zealand before becoming a full-time writer in 1980. Beloved by generations of readers, she wrote over 150 books for children and young adults, and in 2006, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award (the "Nobel Prize of children's books") for her contribution to children's literature.
Steven Kellogg has illustrated more than a hundred books, including IS YOUR MAMA A LLAMA? and THE DAY JIMMY'S BOA ATE THE WASH. He has also retold and illustrated the adventures of tall-tale heroes such as Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, and Johnny Appleseed. He lives in Essex, New York.

K-Gr 2-Sammy's neighbors' dad brings home a speedboat from the flea market while his father brings home a square, green, claw-footed bathtub. As the ill-mannered boys head to the beach for some boating, Sammy heads to the tub to clean up before Grandma arrives. While attempting to make his bath as adventurous as possible with bubbles, bathing suit, snorkel, water wings, and ocean song, something adventurous does happen. The great, green tub stands up, rolls down the stairs and out the back door, and then gallops to the beach. It dives into the warm water (tossing aside those boys next door in a bath-made wave) and swims with Sammy into the sea. They meet mermaids and race a sea serpent. They battle with pirates who want his bathtub (luckily the sea serpent is on their side). They get home just as Sammy's mother walks into the bathroom "without knocking, the way mothers sometimes do." Mahy's spot-on text is perfectly matched by Kellogg's illustrations done in his trademark style. Shades of green suffuse the scenes featuring the tub in a delightfully subtle and clever way. Sammy's abundant imagination is matched only by his actual bathtub escapade. Pair this rollicking tale with Susan Seligson's Amos: The Story of an Old Dog and His Couch (Little, Brown, 1987) and a version of "Aladdin" for a storytime highlighting unusual modes of transportation.-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NHα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.