To the Tub [Hardcover]

Peggy Perry Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

A stubborn young frog named Joe does not want to take a bath. He delays his father as long as possible by asking him to fetch his favorite toys, until Father is so loaded down he trips and lands in the mud. Now Joe is not the only one who needs a bath.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A frog father tries to get his son Joe to take a bath, but Joe proves to be a master of stalling, leading his father on a chaotic romp through the backyard. Joe's demands to find just one more tub toy are called off when dad and son spot a seductive mud puddle and gleefully jump in, putting them both in need of a scrub (and proving that most dads are really messy kids at heart, although apparently the mom, who appears at the door in a prim apron, is not). Anderson (Time for Bed, the Babysitter Said) has a distinct flair for slapstick?in a variation of the old banana-peel gag, for example, Dad is precariously balancing an armload of toys when he trips on a beachball. The text, however, poses a problem with its ambivalent cadence: it slides in and out of verse indiscriminately, and those who read the book aloud may find themselves struggling to find the right meter. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1?Joe is an active little frog who stalls his bathtime by gathering tub toys from his sandbox and treehouse. He tosses them one by one to his father. Piled high with paraphernalia, dad finally loses his balance, dropping the toys into a puddle. A gleeful father/son mud bath ensues. The time-honored bath-procrastination ploy is portrayed, for a change, with a lovely absence of tension. Good-natured slapstick sets the tone, and Anderson's bright rhymes follow suit, reinforced by fresh watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations dancing on bright white pages. The vocabulary is simple enough for beginning readers. In treatment as well as in plot, this title is the antithesis of the godfather of bathtime books, the Woods' King Bidgood's in the Bathtub (Harcourt, 1985).?Liza Bliss, Worcester Public Library, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books (September 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395776147
• ISBN-13: 978-0395776148
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,462,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Bathtime Negotiations, May 24, 2010

By 

LittleSproutBooks - See all my reviews

This review is from: To the Tub (Paperback)

Peggy Perry Anderson's To the Tub is all about a young frog's negotiations to avoid the bathtub. When Joe's father announces it's time for the tub, Joe's response is "Okay, but..." Sound familiar? Joe proceeds to collect all the toys he needs, and get in a little playtime along the way. I like that I can use the illustrations to discuss what Joe is really doing. Is he getting his ducky or playing on the slide? Is it okay to do both after Father told him it was bath time? Getting the ducky might be a reasonable request, but playing on the slide is frustrating for Father.
Eventually, Father becomes so overloaded with Joe's toys that he trips on a beach ball, and all the toys end up in a mud puddle. Joe and his father solve this problem in froggy fashion, by enjoying a mudbath! In the end, it's Mother Frog who ends up enforcing the bath - for both Joe and his father!
I'm kind of tickled by the fact that Mother ends up laying down the law - does that happen in your house, too? I don't begrudge anyone a good mudbath, but I did talk with B about negotiations and decision making. Is it ok to ask to do what you want? Yes. Will you always get your way? No, and it's not ok to do it anyway. To the Tub isn't a heavy duty lesson teaching book, but I don't really like those anyway. I like it when books lead the way to good discussions without feeling like lectures.
Also reviewed at Little Sprout Books.

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, Heartwarming and Fun!!, March 2, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (Tulsa OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To the Tub (Hardcover)

Peggy gave me this book, autographed to my children, in 1996 when we went to the same church. I didnt know then what a big difference this one book would have to us. It actually improved our love of books. Its been my children's favorites ever since and its held up through 3 childrens' handling and reading. The story is colorful, imaginative and everyone loves it! I'm so proud of her books, especially this one, that has continued to warm our hearts even after 4 years of reading it frequently. If you want a book that will endure years of reading and enjoyment, the kind of book that gets passed down in the family.. this is the one to get. You will treasure this one always, like we do. Debbie and Family