#365PictureBooks 59. There's a Shark in the Bath by Sarah McIntyre

McIntyre, S. (2014). There's a Shark in the Bath. London, UK: Scholastic.

ISBN: 9781407121918
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 4 stars

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Big Teeth!

Bubbles!

Who is in the bath? 

One morning Dulcie goes into the bathroom and sees a shark fin in last nights bath water.  When her parents don't believe her she goes back to fish it out.  But what pops out isn't just one shark ... it's a whole family ... and they are hungry!  Trying to distract them, Dulcie suggests they play a game of teeth-brushing.  And hair-washing.  And toilet-paper-wrapping.  They all have a fantastic time playing and making more and more mess while Dulcie tries to stop the sharks from eating her.  Until there is a knock on the bathroom door and dad want's to come in!  Ooh Oh!

A humorous story with lots of made-up bathroom games and rhyming words .  Showing just how much fun you can have in your bath with a bit of imagination.  There is quite a lot of text making it a good read-aloud, though it might not be a good idea to read it just before bath time!!!!!

With bright, bold sharky illustrations there are so many crazy sea-creature antics to spot on the pages.  The illustrations themselves tell a great story.

The front and back end papers are gorgeous, giving a 'before' and 'after' ocean-view snapshot of the story.

A fun read-aloud.  Full of action and silliness and great for getting children to predict what is going to happen next.

I got my copy of There's a Shark in the Bath from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.

#365PictureBooks 11. There's a Dinosaur in my Bathtub by Catalina Echeverri

Echeverri, C. (2014). There's a Dinosaur in my Bathtub. London, UK: Bloomsbury.

ISBN: 9781408839393
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 3 stars

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And another dinosaur book.  Sorry.  I do like them.  And this time it's a clean on :-) 

'Hello!  My name is Amelia and I have something very important to tell you.

Shhh! 

It's a secret so you mustn't tell anyone in the whole world ... OK?'

Amelia has a friend called Pierre visiting from France.  Only ... he's a dinosaur.   And he is in her bath.  Which makes it very difficult when Amelia's mother and father want to use the bathroom.  Luckily he's really good at hiding.  And Amelia is actually the only person who can see him.

This story is told in the first person with Amelia describing her adventures with Pierre.  Actually this book makes me think of a photo-essay type book with the images and text combining to give the reader a 'you-are-there' feeling.  

Echeverri's illustrations remind me of Lauren Child's style - kind of a collage effect.  In fact there are a number of pages where the images appear three-dimensional - like when they are sailing their bathtub to magical lands.  They tie in really well with the story.  And they are very bright and colourful.  

There is one page that you need to turn length-ways to read ... after all you can't fit a giant ice cream onto a standard page, can you?

I particularly like the page where Amelia's parents are trying to get into the bathroom.  Poor Pierre looks so worried!  There are two pages showing just how good Pierre is at hiding - very clever dinosaur!  

This is a dinosaur book for GIRLS to enjoy.  After all most dinosaur books have BOYS in them, but there are none to be seen in here... well except for Pierre and her dad.

A gorgeous story about imaginary friends.  Even though I've listed it as an Early Childhood 0-6 book I believe it will be enjoyed by many of our slightly older kids, especially as it has a lot of 'bigger' words in it.  It will be especially good for buddy reading or as a bed-time read by parents. 

I really wanted to love this book, but I felt that some of the pages were just too busy, and at times the language comes across as too 'old' for the intended audience.

I got my copy of There's a Dinosaur in my Bathtub from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.

#365PictureBooks 10. YIKES, Stinkysaurus! by Pamela Butchart, illustrated by Sam Lloyd

Butchart, P., & Lloyd, S. (2014). YIKES, Stinkysaurus! London, UK: Bloomsbury.

ISBN: 9781408837078
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 3 stars

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On a bit of a dinosaur roll here....  

Poor Stinkysaurus has a bit of a problem.  He's the scariest dinosaur by far, but that is purely because he is so DISGUSTING! None of the other dinosaurs want to play with him.  He even manages to kill plants!  One day Triceratops has decided she's had enough.  They have to get him clean.  But how to do it?

The story is told in simple rhyme using language that younger children can understand.  The layout and font of the text has been done in a in a way that beginning readers can easily read alone.  Each two-page spread has one verse of the rhyme.  Bold, and larger font, is used to emphasise particular words which will help beginning readers make the story interesting when they read it.

Lloyd's illustrations are in keeping with the intended age group.  They are very simplistic, but children can still clearly make out the different dinosaurs.  All the dinosaurs faces are drawn side-on while their facial features are displayed front-on, giving the dinosaurs a very cute appearance.  Lloyd's use of bright colours for the dinosaurs with slightly muted or toned down colours for the background images really make the dinosaurs the focus of the illustration.

The yuck factor is clearly visible in the illustration of Stinkysaurus.  Pong fumes radiating off him, snot dripping from his nose, and a green tinge to his body (You'll realise later on that his natural colour is not greeny-orange!!).  He's also a bit of a snotty sneezer.  I particularly like the page where he covers all the other dinosaurs in green goo - ICK! 

This is a cute story about personal hygiene using dinosaurs as the focal point.  Young kids will enjoy the humour and icky illustrations, while hopefully taking on board the need for their own personal cleanliness.  It's definitely a story aimed at younger children, and I'm sure our year 1's will love it. 

I got my copy of YIKES, Stinkysaurus! from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

Woops! I couldn't find a copy at our local public library.