“King Bidgood’s in the bathtub, and he won’t get out!

Author: Audrey Wood
Title: King Bidgood’s In the Bathtub
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc., 1985.

Grade Level: 1-4.

Summary: Despite a young page’s numerous attempts, he struggles to get the King out of the bathtub.

Strengths: One of the strengths of King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub is certainly the illustrations. On each page the double page spread illustrations simply pop off the page. I found particularly interesting the facial expressions of the individuals of the King’s Court. Their faces included shock, horror, disgust, and contentment. The reader could really feel the emotions of every person in the picture. Another interesting aspect of the book is the role of the page. I think children will find it especially funny that the young page is the one who figures out how to get the King out of the tub and that the solution is simply pulling the plug. The reader can really feel the page’s sense of accomplishment towards the end of the book, when he is standing near the tub holding the plug and smiling. I think children will also relate to not wanting to get out of the tub, but rather spend time playing. I also like the fact that this is a different kind of humor book for children. When most people think humor books for children they think of cartoon-like illustrations and overtly silly characters, so I think this would provide a great alternative to typical humor books for children.

Classroom Use: I think the best use of this book would be as a read aloud. It’s funny and different and would be perfect for a read aloud to students in grades 1-4.

*Caldecott Honor Book

(image from Amazon.com)