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We Eat Dinner in the Bathtub, by Angela Shelf Medearis, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers, 1999, New York, NY: Scholastic. 32 pages. ISBN: 978-0590738866.
Age/Interest Level: 4-8 years
Lexile Level: 270L
Awards: N/A
Reader Annotation: Josh is invited to his friend’s house and discovers they do things a little differently from his family. While most people eat in the dining room, Harris’s eats in the bathtub.
Plot Summary: Josh and Harris are reading comics in a treehouse when Harris asks Josh if he’d like to have dinner at his house. Harris then explains that the family eats in a bathtub which sparks a conversation as to why. Of course, the family sleeps in the dining room so they can’t eat there. And they cook in the bedrooms so they couldn’t possible sleep there. The conversation continues and the two discover that it’s okay if someone does things a different way from you.
Critical Evaluation: This is a whimsical book that functions primarily as a conversation between two characters. The plot and title have a hook which immediately draw attention and leaves the reader wanting to know exactly why anyone would eat in the bathtub. The answers tend to be matter-of-fact, which go nicely with the illustrations. They’re done in a realistic style with watercolor, making these rather bizarre activities seem like the everyday occurrences they’re intended to be. The book succeeds in driving home the point that people are different and respectful conversation can come from that without things necessarily changing.
Why Included: This book, while it has some age, remains topical and relevant in its point. You readers have to learn to be inquisitive without being rude, and that curiosity can occur without attempting to get a person to change.
Age/Interest Level: 4-8 years
Lexile Level: 270L
Awards: N/A
Reader Annotation: Josh is invited to his friend’s house and discovers they do things a little differently from his family. While most people eat in the dining room, Harris’s eats in the bathtub.
Plot Summary: Josh and Harris are reading comics in a treehouse when Harris asks Josh if he’d like to have dinner at his house. Harris then explains that the family eats in a bathtub which sparks a conversation as to why. Of course, the family sleeps in the dining room so they can’t eat there. And they cook in the bedrooms so they couldn’t possible sleep there. The conversation continues and the two discover that it’s okay if someone does things a different way from you.
Critical Evaluation: This is a whimsical book that functions primarily as a conversation between two characters. The plot and title have a hook which immediately draw attention and leaves the reader wanting to know exactly why anyone would eat in the bathtub. The answers tend to be matter-of-fact, which go nicely with the illustrations. They’re done in a realistic style with watercolor, making these rather bizarre activities seem like the everyday occurrences they’re intended to be. The book succeeds in driving home the point that people are different and respectful conversation can come from that without things necessarily changing.
Why Included: This book, while it has some age, remains topical and relevant in its point. You readers have to learn to be inquisitive without being rude, and that curiosity can occur without attempting to get a person to change.