Kathy Broderick (Booklist, Oct. 1, 2001 (Vol. 98, No. 3))
Dirty fingers, dirty toes, / dirty shoulders, dirty nose. / All my dirty deeds are done. / Time to have some bubble fun." So begins this lively, rhyming picture book, part of the Harper Growing Tree series. A young child covered with dirt ends her day with a freshly drawn bubble bath. Kosaka's warm illustrations celebrate the routine as the little girl throws off her clothes, grabs favorite toys, jumps into the water, wraps up in a towel, then dances about in her birthday suit. This concise, colorful book marries text and pictures to show how a time-honored bedtime activity prepares a child to accept the end of the day. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2001, HarperCollins, $9.95. Ages 2-5.

Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
A cute little girl smiles from the cover of this book and she is definitely a little dirty. She is very eager to hop into a bubble bath with her yellow ducky and green froggie. There are bubbles everywhere and she dutifully scrubs tummy, knees and elbows and like most kids, has fun with the bubbles. Then it's into a warm dry towel and flannel jimmies for this little one. While it is cute, one might wonder how all that soap gets off her skin and out of her hair and why one so young doesn't have a caregiver nearby. That aside, it won't matter that much to the intended audience who will just see it as bath time fun. It might have been just a tad more fun if the final pictures were not as textured as the opening ones to show that everything really was squeaky clean. Part of the "Harper Growing Tree" series, which includes tips for reading and sharing stories and a web site with additional information. 2001, HarperFestival, $9.95. Ages 2 to 3.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 14))
A dip in the tub is cause for celebration in this effervescent addition to the Harper Growing Tree series. With the companionship of a toy duck and frog, a gleefully dirty tot frolics about in the bath. Amid the froth of bubbles and fun, the child emerges squeaky-clean and, after a brisk towel dry, is ready to be trundled off to bed for a good night's sleep. Appelt's ("Rain Dance", p. 654, etc.) cheery rhymes capture all the magic of tub time for toddlers: wacky shampoo hairdos, oodles of bubbles, and more. Playful verses deftly express the universal delight all children have in splashing about. An abundance of nonsense words combined with the exuberant rhymes make for rib-tickling read-aloud sessions. "Bubbles, bubbles in the tubbles, / splish, splash, splooshy scrubbles. / Glimmer, glitter through the air. / Bubbles, bubbles everywhere." Kosaka's ("Let's Count the Raindrops", p. 662, etc.) illustrations are ideal for young readers; the simple layout of the full-bleed spreads feature large-scale pictures of the tot merrily washing up. The subtle humor of the illustrations, conveyed through the animated expressions of the child's toys, mirrors the jaunty tenor of the verses. Jolly fun for little ones. 2001, HarperCollins, $9.95. Category: Picture book. Ages 2 to 5. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.