Animal Baths

PreS-K—Like bedtime stories, bath-time tales are a staple of the picture-book genre. This one covers the bathing habits of a variety of animals. Monkeys groom their hair, elephants spray and flap, ducks ruffle and preen, eels get help from tiny shrimp, pigs wallow, manatees are aided by fish, bats lick, bears scratch, whales scrub, and giraffes are nipped by helpful birds. Then this great cleanup ends in a soapy bathtub with a human child who is encouraged to act out all the rituals, e.g., "Comb your messy hair like the monkeys do" and "Wallow like a pig in a sudsy pool." The illustrations take this book above a simple recitation of bathing habits. Done in cut paper, ribbon, and pastel, they are big and bold, making the story suitable for group sharing. Animals are front and center and large, and all of the backgrounds are brightly colored with the cut paper. A winner for one-on-one sharing or lapsit programs.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI