Big Bad Bubble

by Adam Rubin, Daniel Salmieri (Illustrator)

An ordinary bubble may seem pretty harmless to you. To the monsters of La La Land, however, a fragile, shimmering bubble is an object of terror, and when the frightening habits of bubbles are detailed by a fear-mongering monster, Yerbert, Froofle, and Wumpus run away and cry. But with encouragement from the narrator and from readers—“Go on, Wumpus, you can do it. (Tell Wumpus he can do it.)”—the three learn to confront their fears and triumph over the bubbles! An original, offbeat, and giggle-inducing take on conquering fears from the New York Times best-selling team responsible for the groundbreaking Those Darn Squirrels! books.

Genres: Picture Books, Monsters, Childrens, Humor, Storytime, Fiction, Fantasy

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

Adam Rubin is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of ten critically-acclaimed picture books, including the Those Darn Squirrels trilogy, Dragons Love Tacos, Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel, Secret Pizza Party, Robo-Sauce and El Chupacabras (winner of the 2020 Texas Blue Bonnet award). In between writing projects, he designs and collects optical illusions, puzzles and games. His favorite color is blue, his favorite food is fried chicken, and his favorite animal is the otter. Adam currently lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Sophia Triad · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are afraid of bubbles, you will soon realise that this book does not hesitate to expose some of the most terrifying facts about bubbles.
And butterflies.

[Erth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bubble is a sneaky thing. It appears out of nowhere, then it attacks! At least, that's what Mogo says. He has convinced the other monsters in La La Land that bubbles are scary. But you know better, don't you? Talk to the monsters. See if you can convince them not to be afraid.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I enjoyed "Those Darn Squirrels," I was sure I'd like this book, and I do think it was mostly fine. But, I kept thinking afterward that he broke his promise to me, the reader.

The first line of the story was "You may not know this, but when a bubble pops, it doesn't just disappear." Now, maybe not for you, but for me, it sets up the promise that he was going to tell me all about what exactly the bubble does after it's been popped (since it doesn't fade to nothingness)...I'm thinking, "ooooh, the secret life of broken bubbles who do bad things, according to the title -- something darkly hilarious happens in the twisted back alleys of Rubin's mind!"

Well, no. The book was all about helping the monsters conquer their irrational fear of bubbles, which is a lovely takeaway for kids, but I felt horribly lied to and mislead. (I'm sure that someone out there who reads my review will want to psychoanalyze me.)

That said, this book has merits, not the least of which is that it invites audience participation, something always appreciated by those who lead story hour for kids.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only in the delicious anarchy of an Adam Rubin picture book would a big, horned-and-clawed monster named Wumpus be frightened to tears... of a soap bubble. The silliness that ensues does contain a lesson about assessing the unreasonableness of certain fears. But, really, it's about the monsters and the bubbles!

[pati · Rating 1 out of 5]

So after reading this book, children will be afraid of monsters and bubbles! The story must have some meaning for the author, but the meaning is stuck in La La Land, not to be shared with those of us on Earth.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a first-year classroom teacher, this was the first book a student has ever given me from the book fair. I had no idea what to expect, but I was not disappointed, and neither were my children.
 
This book was hilarious. It was quirky and quick-witted. I loved the mix of fun illustrations with interactive text. This is the story of Mogo, a monster who lives in La La Land. La La Land is the place where bubbles that are popped go. The problem is that Mogo told all of his monster friends that bubbles are dangerous.  This, of course, happened after a chewing gum bubble "attacked" his face. My kids loved making connections to how the monsters reacted, or their silly actions. They also liked to tell the monsters what to do and how to face their fears. It is easy to be scared of things, but sometimes we need to be brave when we encounter scary things. Both I and my children loved the illustrations and the story. This is one my kids keep going back to in our classroom library!

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needed a book to read to Kinders for B is for Bubble day. The kids liked talking to the monsters. Some had read Darn Squirrels so the monsters seemed familiar and not scary.

[Suzie Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text-to-Teaching Connection

After reading this book to students the response activity I would do would be STEAM related. I would have students use the engineering design process to come up with a bubble wand design. They would create and test their inventions to see how well they work and if they need to improve their design. We would test our wands outside which will give the kids time to test out their wands and have fun popping successful bubble results of their classmates.

[Alex]

i like it and it mite be refrinsige a legint
i relay like it.

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out more picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

What happens when a bubble pops? It appears in La La Land to scare the monsters who live there! Mogo has taught the other monsters to be afraid of the sneaky bubbles but the reader knows better and helps convince them that bubbles need not be scary just because they appear out of nowhere.

We thought this was an hilarious premise. My nephew and I started giggling right off as all the hysteria was about bubbles! I liked that the end was a message about fear and friendship. It was just a plain silly story that the adult reader would have to give meaning to for the child. Only one of the monsters was really afraid, the rest of the monsters took his example as reality. It shows how talking through one's fears with someone they trust (hopefully the parent who is reading with them) can help them to deal with them and banish them.

We enjoyed the art... The style is very modern with the black background but that was part of the charm... The monsters were all different and that in itself is a lovely message about how it is okay to have friends that are different from you!

BOTTOM LINE: A great giggle maker!

______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and funny. I think this would work well in a storytime. I've done bubble themes before, so it could go there. It could also go into fears, silly, and hodgepodge. I'll add it to the list and see where I can fit it in.

10/29/14 Fun. A nice twist for something "scary."

9/14/16 Used as opener for preschool "bubbles" theme. Very tiny crowd, but still seemed to laugh on their own and not rely on others laughing. One boy said he liked the silliness.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty funny because the monsters are afraid of bubbles, but it was a bit hard to follow. The intention was for you to understand that one monster who'd had a bad experience with bubble gum had scared all of the other monsters into believing all bubbles are bad. I think it was breaking the fourth wall, but can't remember exactly. If your kid likes monsters they might get a kick out of this.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the magic of Dragons Love Tacos, I think my expectations were too high for this one to really land with me.

But it's cute, nonetheless.

Buy this title from Powell's Books.

[Rachel Grover · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just wasn't a fan. The premise at the beginning was, where do bubbles go once they're popped? So, they go to the monster world? Okay...but what happens eventually when the MONSTERS pop the bubbles? Much like a research paper not answering its thesis, I feel like this book missed the mark. Will not purchase for my MS library. Will not recommend to others.

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Big Bad Bubble! Cute and funny illustrations and quite whimsical. I would tell this story while blowing bubbles of course :)

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bubble story time, perhaps? Definitely adding to my monster story time repertoire. This book is hilarious. I love everything these two do.

[Sammie :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3 year old absolutely loves this one! It's a silly story to show that things are not always as scary as they seem.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monsters overcome their fear of bubbles. Good silly fun.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now here's a book from the Rubin/Salmieri team of Dragons Love Tacos fame that I find to have the right balance of ridiculousness and story.
Big Bad Bubble features the monters Yerburt, Froofle, Wumpus, and Mogo who are deathly afraid of the bubbles that reappear in La La Land when we pop them here on Earth. Mogo apparantly had an unfortunate entanglement with a chewing gum bubble ages ago and the tales handed down have struck FEAR! in the tender hearts of their friends. Apparantly fangs and claws and horns and all manner of spikey thing are mismatched to their tender, quivering insides. Over the course of the story, the creatures come up with ways to defeat the big, bad bubbles only to be confronted with a yet more evil foe!
Silly story that incites bravery. Fun illustrations that causes giggles.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to this book, when bubbles pop here they reappear in La La Land, where monsters live, doughnuts grow on trees, and rent is cheap. A monster named Mogo has convinced all his scary monster buddies that bubbles are dangerous, and so they are terrified when a bubble appears. They need to be convinced otherwise.

My 4yo thinks this book is hilarious. I would imagine that if a child was afraid of monsters this book might help as they would see monsters scared of something and hear the reasons that something isn't as scary as they may think. The monsters in the pictures aren't especially scary, in my opinion, and it's a fun read.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kid lit meets science fiction in a wildly imaginative adventure.

Supposedly . . . a bubble is a sneaky thing. It appears out of nowhere, then it attacks! At least, that's what Mogo says. He has convinced the other monsters in La La Land that bubbles are scary. But you know better, don't you? Talk to the monsters. See if you can convince them not to be afraid.

The story is outrageous. I doubt it will convince any child (or adult) not to be afraid. But it's a FIVE STAR ROMP with some laughter packed into the self-consciously outrageous story.

[Shatila Banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cute and great story of encouraging others. Students were able to tell the monster in the book that it was okay or keep trying. This book also shows courage/ bravery. The monsters were afraid of a bubbles but learned bubbles are not as scary as they thought. They overcame their fears. It shows students that everyone has feelings and people can be scared of the tiniest thing but will eventually learn there is nothing to be afraid of.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one hiding out in the non-fiction section of my library, with the other books on feelings. I'm moving it to the picture book section, where it will actually see the light of day, because while it does address the issue of irrational fears, I think kids will just find it hilariously awesome.

[Jodee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly monsters. They are fraddie cats of bubbles. Just like horses and plastic bags. The world is ending when they see them. Shows you how silly it can be to be afraid of the little things. People afraid of small dogs like a yorkie. Pffff... These monsters are shown how to get over the bubble scare.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why are all the monsters in La La Land afraid of bubbles? It turns out Mogo has whipped the other monsters into a frenzy by describing just how terribly dangerous bubbles are. They're sneaky. They travel in packs and they are especially active in the summer. The narrator tries to convince the other monsters that they don't need to be scared.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Monsters live in La La Land. When you pop a bubble, it goes to live in La La Land as well. And monsters are afraid of bubbles. It will take the help of the narrator to teach the monsters that bubbles are fun and not something to fear. Butterflies are a different story. The illustrations are cute, and it helps the story along, but this one, for me is just so so .

[Flossmoor Public Library (IL) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

This is one of my favorite picture books! It is about a rough and gruff monster…. who is terrified of bubbles! Throughout the book he tries to convince all the other monsters why bubbles are scary and horrible. It is ingenious to depict monsters as such innocent characters. I definitely recommend this book!

- Miss Emily

[Hannah Terrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from the local library mostly because of the donut tree on the back, and I was not disappointed. The conversational style of writing makes it fun (and hilarious) to read, and who doesn’t love images of big scary monsters being terrified of harmless, magical bubbles?!

Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri are the bee’s knees, and a wonderful creative team. Read it!

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book to talk about fears. a lot of books that have monsters in them aren't always usable in talking with kids about their fears. parents don't have to worry about kids' fear of bubbles getting worse. kids that don't need to talk about fears with just love the humor and pics, and parents will love sharing it.

[Taun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where does a bubble go when it pops? To the monster world, of course! There, word has been spreading of the dangers of these rouge bubbles. It’s up to the reader to encourage the monsters to be brave & face these scary orbs.

Another enjoyable book from Adam Rubin, who makes a repeat appearance with “Dragons Love Tacos” during our Zoom bedtime stories.