I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs

Totally fun! A great book for car trips or as an adult waiting while a small person takes a leisurely bath. ( )

The poem "No medication" from this book is one that I chose given it’s deeper meaning and detailed artwork. The main reason I like this poem is the illustrations that go along with it are detailed and comical. They add emotion and a silly visual image that readers can get lost in. Another reason I enjoyed it is because the meaning is deeper than it first appears. Although the poem is silly and discusses a boy refusing to take medicine, I enjoyed this poem because there is also an underlying message.

The overall message is that everything has a consequence, this is seen when the boy realizes he will be ‘getting a taste of his own medicine” after he threw his medicine out of the window. ( )

For this reading log I read I’m Still Here in the Bathtub, by Alan Katz. I absolutely loved this collection of poetry for several reasons. The message of this series is to provide humorous stories that are entertaining for children which is all portrayed through poetry.

Firstly, this text is extremely descriptive, which provides entertainment to the reader and definitely creates an interest in reading. There is not one poem in this entire book that is not descriptive. One poem entitled Tiny Baby Brother, talks about the narrator’s baby brother who seems a little crazy. It describes his craziness very well,
“He smashed our mother’s car phone,
Smeared paint throughout the den
That’s why I’m singing this song from inside his playpen!”
The illustrations also go hand in hand with the descriptive words, and show the baby brother and the narrator, his older brother, inside of the playpen. It is very bright and vibrant and adds a lot to the poems.

Additionally, the rhyming patterns in each poem are usually different, but are all great at helping the text flow well. In the poem I Always Lose, one stanza says,
“Parka, shoe, backpack, and hat
Lunch box, tuba, where’s Ron at?
They’re all gone… oops, so’s the cat
Gotta go, Dad is calling!”
Each stanza follows the same 1,1,1,2 pattern, and makes it easy to read. It also keeps a clear pace for the reader to follow.

Furthermore, another feature that is very unique to these poems, is that they are all written to the tune of children’s songs. You can still read and enjoy them without knowing the song, but it adds another element of creativity I really enjoyed. The previous poems mentioned, Tiny Baby Brother, was to the tune of “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and I Always Lose is to the tune of “Skip to My Lou”. My favorite poem in this book is called The Meals at My Camp, and is to the tune of “Wheels on the Bus”. One stanza says,
“The lunches at my camp
Prepared by Joan
Didn’t know
Cheese had bones
Her specialty is tuna ice-cream cones
Each day at camp!”
This adds a level of extremely humorous tones, and along with the funny content, makes this book of poetry some of my favorite I’ve ever read. ( )

a collection of silly peoms/rhymes/songs that discuss different topics
interesting illustrations.
1 book

I really enjoyed this book for three reasons. I loved that each of the poems can be read to the tune of different children’s songs and nursery rhymes. This establishes the rhythm of the poem and makes the poems more interactive. Also, I think that the content of the poems is relatable for children and adults. I remember wanting to stay in the bathtub all night, or refusing to eat my vegetables and it makes the poems more interesting as I can relate them to my own personal experiences. I think the big idea of the book is to make relatable experiences like staying in the bathtub silly and interactive for the listener and reader to enjoy as they sing along. Lastly, I thought the illustrations were interested because they were exaggerated in size and facial features. They also matched the content of the poem, like the boy feeding his brussel sprouts to the dog. The illustrations made the content of the poems easier to visualize and connect to. ( )