Just Me In The Tub

Just Me in the Tub

Written & Illustrated by: Gina and Mercer Mayer

Age Group: Preschool

Published: 2001

The book Just Me in the Tub is Little Critter book about a little boy taking a bath and telling us all of the things that he has to do. He gives us step by step instructions of what we should do before we get in the bath, when we are in the bath, after the bath and what we do not do. Little Critter starts telling us that he always gets his pajamas out before the bath, so they are clean and ready for him to get right into. He gets in the bath and as the pictures intend he makes a mess, but his impression is that he is super clean and doesn't make a mess in the tub. He washes all his body parts and tells us about it, he gets out of the tub, making puddle after puddle so he can get his toys. He has his stuffed animals watch him while he is taking a bath since they aren't able to join him like his plastic ones. He has so much fun playing till his mom tells him to get out and finish up. He gets dressed but then has to clean up after himself. He reads with his dad and sister in the end of the story before he goes to bed.

This book makes me laugh so hard, the little boy telling us about his bath routine is just too cute and it describes all the adventures that children have for the process of taking a bath. When you grow up, it is such a quick thing, but to little children, it is a huge deal that they either love or hate. In the classroom this book would be a great instructional book for students to learn about the importance of staying clean. The mom doesn't show up in the story till towards the end of the book, so when children are reading, they can realize that they can do these things on their own and be very grown up. In the end when his mom comes in the story, she reminds him to be responsible and clean  up when he is done, which is a great lesson for students that they need to clean up after themselves and someone else shouldn't do it for them if they are capable. 

The pictures in the book are amazing in my opinion. They give a great way of showing the readers (since the book is intended for younger children) the whole exact process of taking a bath. In the part of the book when it is talking about the different parts of his body he needs to clean, they give individual bubbles for those, with mini bubbles that form in baths connecting them. These have great illustrations for children that are bright and exciting. The whole he is telling us what he is doing, and each picture goes right along. In the end of the book, it has a comforting feeling showing the father and his two children sitting down and reading a book before they go to bed, which is the process that most children have before they go to bed each night.

I would definitely recommend this book. It is so funny and a great story for all children to read while teachers and parents love to read it as well. If I was the teacher of a preschool classroom, I would include this in a lesson about staying clean and definitely not just read it but have activities that go along with them. My absolute favorite part is that what he says like "I step on a bath towel so I don't get water everywhere" is just hilarious because we see in the pictures (no the words, since the words are him telling a story) that he has a huge mess around him, but since he is doing his job of being clean he hardly notices.