Scrubba Dub

by Nancy Van Laan

Little Bunny has gotten all sticky again and so it is time for his mother to give him his nightly bath where he will get washed up in a tub filled with bubbles, play with his many floating toys, and then get wrapped-up in a snugly towel to dry off before bedtime.

Genres: Picture Books, Rabbits, Animals, Storytime, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Nancy Van Laan was born in Baton Rouge, La. Her father was a colonel in the US Air Force, and the family moved frequently as Van Laan was growing up. She began making up stories to pass the time on long car trips. Although Van Laan had a learning disability, she loved to read. She began drawing and writing poetry as a child and enjoyed illustrating her own stories. Van Laan also loved ballet and began taking lessons at the age of nine. By age seventeen, she had her own ballet company in Birmingham that performed on a weekly program broadcast on Alabama Educational TV (now Alabama Public Television). Van Laan’s dancing career ended after an injury she sustained as a student at Sullins College in Bristol, Va. After completing her AA degree at Sullins, she enrolled at the University of Alabama, earning her BA in radio and television in 1961.

Van Laan moved to New York after college. She worked briefly at an advertising company and then joined ABC-TV where she worked as a network censor from 1962 to 1966. Van Laan began writing at this time and also studied art. After her first two children were born, she resigned from ABC and began painting professionally, creating murals for schools and private clients. She earned an MFA in theater from Rutgers University in 1979 and wrote two plays which were performed regionally. Van Laan moved to eastern Pennsylvania where she taught English at a private boarding school from 1984 to 1989. She also taught creative writing at Rutgers from 1986 to 1989. Van Laan published her first book, The Big Fat Worm, in 1987. Two years later, she left teaching to write full time. Since then, Van Laan has published over two dozen books. One of these, Rainbow Crow, was featured on the PBS television series Reading Rainbow. Van Laan lives and writes in Doylestown, Pa.

Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mama rabbit tries to give her toddler a bath to get him squeaky clean. It's quite the adventure, and what's left behind when the task is complete.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very simple but would probably be better for the infant/toddler age. It would not be appropriate to have in an early childhood classroom because they would already be too mature for this type of materials. I liked the rhyming and the images however.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so much fun to read out loud and toddlers will get a kick out of listening to this book. I will definitely be using this book for my Bath Time Toddler Story Time this spring.

[Claire Johnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this story, a mother gives her child a bath. Simple story, not one I would choose to have in my classroom or read aloud.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good for younger readers- I think it would be ideal as a book that could get wet.

[Phuong Dao · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a little bunny while taking a bath in his tub, he is singing and rhyming out with his song. He comes up with different rhyming words while he was in the tub. This book is good to teach children how to rhyme. From the title of the book we can tell that it is a rhyming book . It is also good for beginner reader.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hope you don't feel squeamish about made up words and saying them in front of kids. I like these books because of the onomatopoeia but I find Bathtime and Bedtime stories difficult at public storytimes, but this story is definitely for a young crowd, and frankly plots of any kind are rare among laptime stories.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did think this book was cute, but I wasn't in love with the style of writing. The words tried to rhyme with each other but it didn't make that much sense. I did think it was a good idea to show how fun it can be to get clean after one gets dirty.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter loves this book. I feel that you can't just make up words so that your book rhymes. It's like cheating shmeating.

[Geni · Rating 2 out of 5]

hard to read..words do not flow...

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

a little rabbit enjoys a bath with help from his mom. Very sing song rhyme and short.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay. very young, so stick to toddlers.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mama Bunny tries to bathe her energetic toddler.