Bubble Bath Pirates

by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

"BATH TIME!" calls out the pirate mommy. "ARGHHH!" answer her little pirates. It's time to walk the plank for these two pirate pretenders. To the refrain of "Yo ho, yo ho, it's off to the bath we go!" the pirates and their mommy make their way to a bath full of ships and suds and even a pirate rubber ducky. After all hands on deck have been soaped and swabbed, it's time for a little pirate treasure of ice cream before bedtime!

Whether bath-lovers or bath-haters, children are sure to get caught up in this spirited adventure on the high seas of the bathtub.

Genres: Picture Books, Pirates, Storytime, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Family

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2003

About the author

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, known since boyhood as "JJK," is the New York Times bestselling author/illustrator behind more than forty books for young readers, including his wildly popular Lunch Lady graphic novels, select volumes of the Star Wars™: Jedi Academy series, and Hey, Kiddo, which was a National Book Award Finalist. Krosoczka creates books with humor, heart, and deep respect for his young readers—qualities that have made his titles perennial favorites on the bookshelves of homes, libraries, and bookstores over the past twenty years.

In addition to his work in print, Krosoczka produced, directed, and performed in the full-cast audiobook adaptations of his graphic novels. The Hey, Kidoo audiobook garnered both Audie and Odyssey Awards for excellence in audiobook production. The Lunch Lady audiobook cast is led by Kate Flannery (The Office) and is rounded out by famed audiobook narrators and real kid actors! Krosoczka has been a guest on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, has been profiled in The New York Times, was featured on Good Morning America, and has delivered three TED Talks, which have accrued millions of views online. Krosoczka has garnered millions of more views online via the tutorials he has produced for YouTube and TikTok. As well as working on his books' film and television adaptions, Krosoczka has also written for The Snoopy Show (Apple TV+) and served as a consultant for Creative Galaxy (Prime Video), and appeared in live segments for the show.

Realizing that his books can inspire young readers beyond the page, Krosoczka founded School Lunch Hero Day, a national campaign celebrating school lunch staff. A consummate advocate for arts education, Krosoczka also established the Joseph and Shirley Krosoczka Memorial Youth Scholarships, which fund art classes for underprivileged children in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Krosoczka lives in western Massachusetts with his spouse, their three children, pugs Ralph and Frank, and a French bulldog named Bella Carmella.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had forgotten about this book until I bought a copy for my five-year-old. NOW I remember it. We used this book at least once a year for story times at the library, and I remember the moms (not so much the dads) glaring at me when the kids had ice cream after their baths.

The reason we used it so often is because the book was fun to read out loud to a group of twenty or thirty preschoolers. It still is fun to read out loud to much-loved audience of one. And, now I'm the mom, so I get to tell my son that he needs to eat ice cream BEFORE his bath.

[Hannah Notess]

Logically confounding.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute - would work for bedtime, bath, pirate or family storytime. :)

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Building Block Winner.

I wish I could say I liked this bathtub story about a mother with her 2 piratically inclined sons, but the storyline felt very incomplete...
The illustrations were colorful.

I get the whole 'Arrr' and other pirate sounds that are thrown in...but with an incomplete ending, the book itself just felt like a 'Here let me put together a book that contains both bathtime and pirates and DONE...'....so that's my feedback, but I'm sure others may love it just as much.

Due to some of the vocabulary, this is a good transitional read, but this is definitely a better read-to-your kids than it is a read aloud for kids, if that makes sense.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. There is some humor here that was more fun for me and for the parents in my audience than for my younger listeners, because the pirate vernacular is just not a 2-year-old thing, for the most part. They all seemed to like the fact that it ended with ice cream, though. I probably will look for a different bath time book for the next time I do a bath related storytime for this age group. The colorful bold illustrations and the facial expressions are a plus.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are cute and the pirate language is fun, but a towel drops off to show a naked kid running towards the kitchen near the end, and it makes no sense for the mom to let her freshly bathed kids dig into chocolate ice cream.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Cute story about bathtime, though not really a story. I imagine it could be helpful for a kid who doesn't like taking baths, to make it more fun. But, yes, I agree with others that ice cream is definitely something to do BEFORE the bath not after! Don't give kids such ideas! Lol.

[raccoon reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loved this, as he does almost anything pirate related. Cute, quick, easy bedtime book. My only concern is, what is up with the mom not having any bottom teeth... weeeeiiiird.

[Donna Mork · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two boys make bathtime fun by turning it into a pirate plot.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Per Amazon 2-5 years

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pirate Story Time. Great illustrations but not enough of a story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly and fun with great illustrations - preschoolers will love this one during a pirate or bath time themed story time. A fun read aloud!

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for storytime! There are a lot of opportunities for dialogic reading, as well as movement! You can have the kids "clean under their arms" or "scrub their backs!"

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny bathtime routine story about two kids who take their pirate adventures into bath time. Yo ho, yo ho, it’s off to the bath we go!

[Christy Broderick⁷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pirates + bath time = a fun way to take a bath! 🏴‍☠️🛁📚

Love this cute pirate-themed read and will definitely use it for a future storytime.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love books about pirates and we also love baths. So this book was perfect for my littles.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very engaging for my 4yo and 1.5yo sons. And ice cream AFTER a bath?!? No way

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bath time as two dirty pirates are made to walk the plank by their pirate mommy right into the bathtub, for some splashing clean fun!

[Miss C · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first grade class loved this book and it's silliness. Nice quick read!

[Abbigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really into this one, but it has simpler text and lots of pirate words which make it a nice addition for reading during storytime if I have younger kids.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun illustration

[Addie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. 2 year old liked it, but she was concerned about them getting dirty right after their bath. "Uh-oh! Spill! Bath!"

[Casandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Pirate" kids take baths.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sure fire book for young pirates and bath time!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gavin's recently developed an interest in pirates. Admittedly, he's a little confused about the exact nature of pirates--he keeps pointing to the illustration of Mother Goose on the cover of his nursery rhyme book and labeling her a "pirate"-- but Mom and Dad find pirates fun too, so we're eagerly embracing this new trend. Of the several pirate books I brought home from the library, he instantly latched on to this one as a favorite.

The storyline is simple. A mother gives her two sons a bath, during which they imagine themselves as pirates, eventually earning pirate booty in the form of ice cream. Bright, bold illustrations accompany the simple text, and while I can't say I was riveted by the plot, it was more than enough for my two year old. I can only guess at what exactly caught his interest, but I suspect it was the combination of a familiar setting (bathtime) with the novelty of the pirate concepts and language.

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krosoczka, Jarrett. Bubble Bath Pirates! New York: Viking, 2003. Print. Ages 6-8. Bubble Bath Pirates is a great and fun book for students looking for details and fun pictures involved in picture books as well as a fun story. This story goes through two boys and how their mother lets them pretend that there bathtub is a pirate ship and how they treat each other and how they can make stories and make up stuff by just having fun and just playing in the bathtub. I really liked this book, because of the fact that is was fun to read and see the different details they incorporate with real-life as well as made life stories. I can also relate to this story in the sense that I am able to see how my two brothers and little sister and nephew used to play in the bathtub and make up stories just like how when I was little I am quite sure of. It is fun to see the different imaginations of different children.

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever illustrations (did you notice the rubber duckie with the Pirate eyepatch?) and a sing song text containing a smattering of pirate-speak made this an instant hit with my toddler audience. Pirate Mom (sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to say Pirate MOMMY) and her two little pirates just have too much fun at bath time. It almost made me want to follow along with them singing "Yo ho, yo ho, it's off to the bath we go" and jump right in behind them. Every page is filled with smiles. And after they count down and pull the plug there is pirate treasure waiting in the kitchen and more singing, "Yo ho, yo ho, we're now so sparkling clean...we're off to get our bounty of chocolate fudge ice cream!"

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those books that your kid becomes obsessed with but you really wish they hadn't. Pirate mommy makes her two boys take a bath, to which they respond with piratisms like "shiver me timbers" and "aye aye matey." With my son firmly entrenched in the "why" phase, I'm having a hard time explaining what all these phrases mean, not to mention why they get ice cream after their bath and he doesn't.

Finally, the earrings! Why with the pirate earrings in a picture book? If I could only have back the minutes spent explaining those earrings. I don't have the answer to "why" on that one my son. I really don't.

That said, it's a kid favorite so three stars it is. Grudgingly.

[Liz Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute idea, but not my favorite JJK book. Actually, I was so disappointed by the ending, that I couldn't remember how much I liked the beginning. I really have enjoyed JJK's books without exception until this one. :( I was trying to predict what the "buried treasure in the kitchen" was going to be and the outcome didn't work for me. Caedmon enjoyed the pirate language!

Mentor text for word choice with "said is dead" type lessons.

Side note.. cool text-to-text connection with Nighttime Ninja. :)

[Kathy Ellen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny little bath time book!
I love how the Mama Pirate says something, and the boys answer back!
Very inventive how all the little bath time tasks are tied into pirate tasks!
I personally love having the ice cream at the end, but it may be because I'm not a parent and I love ice cream a little too much!
Fun illustrations too!

Haiku Review:
Ahoy there mateys!
it's time for a pirate bath!
scrub all hands on deck!