BUBBLE BATH PIRATES!

Krosoczka, who’s had such fun with Good Night, Monkey Boy! (2001) and Baghead (2002), conducts readers through a piratical bath time in what might be considered a bathing primer for the very young. By way of great, billowy illustrations, a mother—known here as pirate mommy—gets her two little pirates into the tub by demanding that they walk the plank (and it doesn’t hurt that the tub can be measured in terms of acreage, rather than the typical puny variety). “Don’t forget to scrub under your arms,” pleads the pirate mommy; forget that such a comment seems unlikely in the company of pirates: “Ahoy! Our arms be ticklish!” scream the miscreants in return. The little pirates get to say “Blimey!” and “Shiver me timbers!” as their mother scrubs like mad, then they race to the kitchen for some treasure—ice cream straight from the container, much of it administered to the area around the mouth. Bathing rituals are never hurt by a dose of invention, though this could well be a one-time exchange: a good idea that kids will want to throw their own twist upon. (Picture book. 2-4)