How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps - a review

How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps

by Nicola Winstanley
Illustrations by John Martz
Tundra, 2019

The “five easy steps” in the book’s title are more difficult than they sound when the cat refuses to cooperate! The title page shows a dark-skinned girl with pink hair striding purposefully with a limp white cat under her arm. All signs point to a successful bath experience until,

STEP ONE
Fill the tub with warm water. 

The girl fills the tub with too much warm water, prompting a new step one,

STEP ONE
Put a little warm water in the bath. 

As “step one,” changes with the circumstances, Mr. Flea, escapes. After a lengthy (and messy) search throughout the house, step one becomes,

STEP ONE
Have some milk and cookies. 

The steps change amusingly as the cat wreaks havoc in the house, the water cools to an unacceptable temperature, and the process continues through a multitude of steps before resolving in a way that pleases as least one of the two! Simple ink drawings are digitally colored with a limited palette. The cat’s only coloring is a round pink nose that perfectly matches the girl’s hair buns. The same pink boldly lists the ever-increasing steps required to “give your cat a bath.” Pages are a soft beige with white comic book style margins. The text is witty and droll instruction,

STEP FIVE
Chase your cat down the stairs! 

The girl’s comments appear in white word bubbles above her head,

 “I thought you said there were only five steps!” 

The girl and Mr. Flea burst with action and expression. The result is a hilarious confirmation of the well-known fact that cats do whatever they please. How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps is sure to be a favorite for small group sharing, cat families, and children who appreciate nuanced hilarity.

Peek inside How to Give Your Cat a Bath.

My copy of How to Give Your Cat a Bath was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Time for a Bath, Time to Eat

It's Nonfiction Monday again!  (where does the week go?) 

Just a short post today because I'm on vacation. 

 I'll try to post a photo or two later in the week and perhaps you can guess where I am. 

Here's a hint: It's a great town for baseball and ducklings.  Feel free to make a guess in the comments. 

Here are two great new offerings from the talented duo of Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.

Time to Eat and Time for a Bath. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Illustrated in typical Steve Jenkins style, these small (81/4" square), attractive books feature the ways in which various animals eat and bathe.  The facts presented are particularly interesting, especially for young children,

Got milk?  Like all mammals, the baby blue whale drinks milk. A lot of milk - the equivalent of 800 glasses every day.  On this rich diet, a young whale can gain 200 pounds 991 kilograms) every twenty-four hours.

Don't want to take a bath?  How about a shower?

Rainy day bath The hummingbird takes its bath on a rainy day, perching on a branch and spreading its wings in a downpour.

The final pages include lengthy paragraphs of general information on each featured animal.


There is a  third book in this series, Time to Sleep, but my branch did not have a copy. I'm sure it's great as well.

Today's roundup is at The Cat and the Fiddle.

Stop by and check out all of today's Nonfiction Monday posts.

Bathroom humor

Here's a little bathroom humor (board book style) from Leslie Patricelli. I don't usually review board books, but these are so funny that I had to share!

Patricelli, Leslie. 2010. Tubby. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

I'm naked! Wheeee!

That about sums it up.  Tubby is just doggone funny! But wait, does that dog have muddy paws? It looks like this little guy may need another bath.



Patricelli, Leslie. 2010. Potty. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Baby has to go.  He could go in his diaper. But then again, maybe he won't.   Maybe dog or cat has a better idea.  Nope.  Maybe he'll just try out the potty. Well, whaddya know?

Tinkle, tinkle, toot.  I did it!

An adorable boy makes his own decisions; and what does he get for his trouble?  What else, but

Undies!

Yay!


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