Sudsy Sea World: Who's in the Tub? by Sylvie Jones

All of us parents have been there! It's a struggle to get kids into their bedtime bath, and once they're in, it's a fight to get them out. All we parents see is one more task before lights out, but in Who's In the Tub? author Sylvie Jones shows us that for an imaginative kid, a simple bath can be a Jacques Cousteau moment.

"Willy John Jones,
are you in the tub?
I'm waiting to hear a splash and scrub!"

Willy John's mom is all business as she warns him from the next room to get into the tub and get scrubbing. Bedtime's at eight, and he'd better be done by then--or else!

But Willy has his reasons for lollygagging. Draped in his fluffy towel, he watches with some consternation while first a mallard drake, then three sea turtles, a dolphin and seal, and finally a huge pink octopus take a dip, dive, and dunk in the suds. There's clearly no room for Willy in that tub, and the bewildered boy can only stall his mom's appearance at the bathroom door while he deals with his marine marauders.

"Mom, I have a reason,
a good one, I think.
Can I take my bath
In the kitchen sink?"

Just as the sea creatures are about to be busted by Mom, the octopus takes things into his own, er, hands and pulls Willy into the tub and gives him a scrub. Willy assures his mother that he's making good use of his soap and shampoo; in fact, now that he's wet, he's having too much fun to stop for something like bedtime.

Just as Willy is good and clean, his frisky sea creatures morph into plastic bath toys, safely stowed in a net on a hook beside the tub.

"Willy John Jones, are you
out of that tub?
The drain isn't saying
glub-a-glub-glub!"

In a flash Willy is out of the tub and busily brushing his teeth in front of the vanity mirror, with his animal friends behind him, all brushing, too. Willy reassuringly calls out to his mom,

"We had a nice swim.
Tomorrow we'll definitely get back in!"

Willy's mother picks up on his pronoun with a slightly alarmed "Willy, did I hear you say WE?"

Pascale Constantin's illustrations of the amazed and delighted Willy John Jones are reminiscent of William Joyce's wonderful fantasy adventure George Shrinks. For Willy John Jones, bathtime is anything but boring!