King Bidgood's in the Bathtub

This Caldecott Honor book was one of my absolute my favorites as a child, and remains one of my favorites to this day. I have read it to the children I nanny for and they also love it. The setting is a castle's bathroom and follows the day of King Bidgood refusing to get out of the bathtub, and all the different ways members of the court try to get him to leave. The setting allows for crazy, imaginative, and wonderfully detailed illustrations. The story is funny and creative, but it is also something a lot of young children could relate to. Bath time is a huge deal in many households with young children, whether the parents are coercing their children into the tub or out of it. This book can help in both ways--either by letting children show more imagine they can do their favorite activities even in the bathtub, or how absurd it is to spend the whole day in the tub. It is a fun way to teach young kids about the importance of personal hygiene. show less

"Drip, Drop, Splash," / "Drip, Drop, Splash! / My Armor Soon Will Rust! / My Uniform Is Soggy Wet, / My Helmet Plume is Mussed! Ha! Hahaha! I'm so glad that I gave this one a second chance, after reading it on my morning train-ride the other day, and being somewhat less than impressed. What was all the fuss about, I found myself wondering? Perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood? In any case, I decided this evening to try it again, this time with the accompanying six-track CD, which provides narration and (hilarious!) musical accompaniment, and I discovered that it was quite amusing after all. I confess: the knight's doo-wap number, quoted above, had me in hysterics! I couldn't stop giggling!

Chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1986, show more King Bidgood's in the Bathtub provides an amusing bath-time story (especially with the added musical numbers!) sure to appeal to younger children with a taste for silly stories. The illustrations by Don Wood capture all of the fantastical doings, from King Bidgood's bath-side luncheon with the Queen to his fishing venture with the Duke, as well as the expressive faces of the all the "players" in the piece. Definitely one I would recommend, especially to children who don't realize how fun bathing can be - just be sure to get the edition with the CD! Drip, Drop, Splash," everyone! show less

This is one of my favorite picture books of all time. Completed by a talented husband/wife team, King Bidgood is fun to read, and very enjoyable and decadent to look at. The tale is humorous. Members of the king's court work hard to get King Bidgood out of the bathtub only to be pulled into the tub with him. They use excuses like going to battle, feasting, fishing and dancing to get him out. In the end, it's the Page that gets him out by pulling the plug. Audrey Wood's rhyming story is fun to read aloud and flows well off the tongue. Don Wood's oil paintings are so finely detailed and decadent. My favorite is the battle scene with the ships in the tub. This book is a Caldecott Honor Book, an ALA Notable Children's Book, and a SLJ Best show more Book of the Year. show less

This book is sheer, grand, glorious fun! Don Wood's illustrations are a sumptous feast for the eyes, constantly holding the reader's attention and bringing more depth and plot to a story fairly sparse on words. The plot revolves around a page's pleas to remove the king from the bathtub, with each member of hte kind's court failing miserably at this task. Everytime the page enlists the help of an adult, the reader anxiously wants to push to the next page to see the fantastic drawings of the king in his bathtub, drawings filled with so much detail it's almost like a 'Where's Waldo?' scene. Audrey Wood's words lend to this stage of anticipation, with each court member enticing the king to ever greater feats of fun lunacy. The boy page show more himself trumps the adults in the end in figuring out a way to remove the king from the tub, a feat any child will enjoy and wish was his own in a world full of adults. Truly a very fun read for both young and old! show less

Have you ever had a hard time getting a child to leave the bath? King Bidgood’s entire court is having the same problem. They try to coax him out with lovely activites like lunch and fishing, but the king responds each time but proclaiming he will just do it in the tub! This goes on all day. Finally, the clever page pulls the plug and solves the problem at a stroke. I think most of the enjoyment of this book is how the king may remind you of one or more small children of your acquaintance, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless!

King Bidgood is refusing to leave his bathtub! Everyone thinks that they have the answer for how to get the king to leave the tub and join the court. It turns out, though, that every suggestion can be done in the tub! Battle, lunch, fishing, dancing...all of these activities are well suited for tub time. The poor page is left to clean up each mess, but he is the one with the answer in the end. Pulling the plug gets the king out in quite a hurry. The illustrations by Don Wood are so intricate and you can find new details every time you look at the pages. The faces of the characters are so animated and lifelike and they truly give the story humor and life. This is a story I grew up with and continue to enjoy to this day.

Audrey Wood's King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is a fun, rollicking and engaging bathtime story, although for me, it is the marvelous illustrations that make this story special; the narrative, albeit lively and humorous, is somewhat predictable and rather mundane, especially when compared to the rich detail of the illustrations. In fact, I could readily imagine the illustrations without the narrative, but I could not imagine the narrative without the illustrations. My LT friend Abigail points out in her own excellent review that the accompanying CD really makes the narrative come alive, but as my library copy of the book unfortunately does not come with the CD, I have not had the opportunity to listen to it and judge this for myself.

King show more Bidgood's in the Bathtub is, of course, primarily a humorous and silly bathtime story for younger children. However, I could also imagine using this story with slightly older children to perhaps discuss the many duties of a monarch, and why it might not necessarily be particularly beneficial or positive for a kingdom to have a monarch, a leader, who spends all his/her time soaking in the tub instead of governing, instead of working for the good of his/her kingdom. The amusing conclusion, and the fact that it is the King's page and not the Queen, the Knight, the Duke etc. who finally knows how to get King Bidgood out of the tub, could also be used to engender some interesting discussions regarding social position, the historic roles of servants and the class system. show less