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The Flying Bath
When everyone has left the house in the morning, the bath toys spring into action and head off on exciting adventures in their magical flying bath! From giving a muddy piglet a shower to putting out a fire for a frightened baboon, they have water at the ready for any emergency—but they're always home for the children's bath time at the end of the day. The simple rhyming speech-bubble text is great to read aloud, and perfect for developing reading confidence. Richly detailed, sumptuous artwork completes this irresistible book for young readers.The Flying Bath is a playful and adventurous story from Julia Donaldson and David Roberts, the creators of Tyrannosaurus Drip, The Troll, and Jack and the Flumflum Tree.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,223 books1,904 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 28, 2022
We love Julia Donaldson books but sadly this one didn't impress us much. The Flying Bath follows three animals who set off on a flying bath adventure to help some other animals in need.
I picked up this book thinking it would be an easy read we'd enjoy but the children weren't too interested in it. The story rhymes well but at times it is a bit repetitive and boring to read, especially with speech bubbles all over the place. It was nice to see animals helping others and the children liked this as they thought it was a kind thing to do and it's always great for them to see the importance of kindness.
The illustrations are lots of fun and the children liked seeing the adventures the animals went on. They thought it was silly but lots of fun that they used a flying bath to transport them around and it was nice to see a range of different animals as part of the story.
This is a nice book to look at but I dint think much of the written side of this book. The children weren't enjoying the book as much as many others we've read so it'll only get three stars from us.
I picked up this book thinking it would be an easy read we'd enjoy but the children weren't too interested in it. The story rhymes well but at times it is a bit repetitive and boring to read, especially with speech bubbles all over the place. It was nice to see animals helping others and the children liked this as they thought it was a kind thing to do and it's always great for them to see the importance of kindness.
The illustrations are lots of fun and the children liked seeing the adventures the animals went on. They thought it was silly but lots of fun that they used a flying bath to transport them around and it was nice to see a range of different animals as part of the story.
This is a nice book to look at but I dint think much of the written side of this book. The children weren't enjoying the book as much as many others we've read so it'll only get three stars from us.
September 24, 2019
This book is highly effective for early readers to both listen to and read themselves due to the accessible language and high levels of rhyme that give a rhythm to the reading. The high use of dialogue to tell the story coupled with the rhythm and rhyme gives this text the possibility to be explored further as a class; understanding and emulating these techniques in their own stories.
February 14, 2020
A bath goes flying when the house owners have left. The story entails the adventures the bath toys go on in the flying bath. They use the hose to water the flowers, they give a piglet a shower and save a pond who is dying from a draught in its pond. A creative story. This would be great to see what the children could come up with!
September 3, 2024
This book is fine but, I don't know if it's just me but it's really unintuitive to read and does not flow well at all (except for the main "wings out and off we fly..." bit). My kids seem to quite like it but I just really don't enjoy reading it to them!
September 11, 2024
There needed to be at least some backstory/motivation/framing to this, I thought. Eye-catching title got it pulled from the library. I suppose it could be seen as 'delightfully open-ended'. Or slapdash. Either way.
Also - the cacti looked American...for a Aussie outback setting?!
Also - the cacti looked American...for a Aussie outback setting?!
September 20, 2017
Three and a half stars. Lively story with rhythmic text.
February 9, 2019
A bit ludicrous
February 21, 2019
It's cool
June 16, 2019
Good book 3 stars
October 4, 2019
So far from the kids (under 6 years) book i read, Julia Donaldson's books are the best! Rich in content and no dearth of rhythmic words.
October 14, 2019
Repetitive language, colourful images and an easy storyline to follow.
November 9, 2019
Rhyme, helpful, kind, water
Read
October 14, 2020Fun rhyming book with repeated phrases.
October 5, 2015
This is another picture book by the very popular Julia Donaldson. When this arrived on my doorstep to share with my KS1 class I couldn't wait. They love to have stories read to them, but especially love a Donaldson book.
This is a very cute story about a bunch of animals who set out to help others. When the family leave the house in the morning, the little bath critters get straight on the phone to find out who needs their help first. The bath ends up going on a journey across the world helping animals in need.
I really liked this aspect of the book, every new page the bath was somewhere new, this really excited the children too, they liked to guess where it was going next and who they were going to help. The illustrations were truly wonderful too.
The children, once the story had ended loved it and said they would read it again and again. It really excited them and they said they would give it 5*, however from an adult's point of view, I personally didn't think it was as good as some as Donaldson's previous books. Saying that, they can't all be as good as The Gruffalo or What the Ladybird Heard.
If you like Donaldson's books, this is certainly one to add to your collection, however I don't think it will be as big as her earlier stories. I have decided to award 5* as that was the opinion of the children and they are the ones who get the true enjoyment from it.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
This is a very cute story about a bunch of animals who set out to help others. When the family leave the house in the morning, the little bath critters get straight on the phone to find out who needs their help first. The bath ends up going on a journey across the world helping animals in need.
I really liked this aspect of the book, every new page the bath was somewhere new, this really excited the children too, they liked to guess where it was going next and who they were going to help. The illustrations were truly wonderful too.
The children, once the story had ended loved it and said they would read it again and again. It really excited them and they said they would give it 5*, however from an adult's point of view, I personally didn't think it was as good as some as Donaldson's previous books. Saying that, they can't all be as good as The Gruffalo or What the Ladybird Heard.
If you like Donaldson's books, this is certainly one to add to your collection, however I don't think it will be as big as her earlier stories. I have decided to award 5* as that was the opinion of the children and they are the ones who get the true enjoyment from it.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
June 26, 2015
A fun gentle book written by the author of the Gruffalo. An interesting book similar to the television series about the WonderPets. The bath toys take the bath out for the day to rescue creatures in distress and then return home with one of their rescued creatures. For young kids as a read aloud or beginner readers to read themselves.
November 29, 2024
Oh, to have a flying bath! While the people of the house are away, three bath toys go out in a flying bathtub to bring water to creatures needing it. A fun story with enjoyable illustrations and an included CD for the reader to listen to the reading of the story.
October 28, 2014
Is it weird to like a picture book less because it's so ... light? This somehow feels insubstantial. Five stars for the illustrations, they're amazing.
January 17, 2015
It's not as good as The Gruffalo, but an entertaining book with great pictures.
April 21, 2015
Super fun, simple sweet rhyming read for little people.
Julia Donaldson is an endless source of inspiration.
Julia Donaldson is an endless source of inspiration.
February 1, 2016
Cute story.
December 27, 2016
Awesome
August 13, 2016
always excellent text by julia donaldson. and fun to see her work with a different illustrator!
March 11, 2019
This tale is a repetitive book to encourages children to join in with reading . It is full of exciting adventures that intrigue children to read the book.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews