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The Dirty Little Boy
When a very dirty little boy tries to clean himself by imitating the bathing habits of various animals, he only gets dirtier, in a classic story--first published nearly forty-five years ago--now available as a picture book. Reprint.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Margaret Wise Brown
403 books1,263 followersMargaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 15, 2013
A dirty little boy is told to observe how other animals take baths in order to teach himself how to get clean. Each time he tries something new to get clean he gets dirtier and dirtier.
This was a little wordy for little kids and the message that the mom gives at the end is very confusing both for adults and kids. .
This was a little wordy for little kids and the message that the mom gives at the end is very confusing both for adults and kids. .
September 6, 2022
When a little boy's mother is too busy doing laundry to bathe him, he observes how different animals wash themselves in an attempt to learn how to get clean.
As someone living in a low socioeconomic area, every day I see children who are literally dirty because those children's caregivers are incapable of bathing them and washing their clothes to a minimum level of basic hygiene. This is due to lack of resources, the non-existence of social services in the United States, chronic stress, poor parenting skills and the disinclination to parent, caregivers placing their needs over those of their children, the culture of poverty in which children in lower socioeconomic households are often treated as possessions, the inability of caregivers to regulate their intake of substances, and/or caregiver non-compliance in their mental health and substance abuse treatment. More often than not these factors are compounded by the fact that these neglected children’s caregivers had parenthood forced upon them as the result of unplanned pregnancies due to abstinence-only sex education and the lack of access to contraception as well as the religious and social taboo against abortion and the lack of access to abortion services.
This picture book was clearly intended to be humorous, but I didn't find it funny. Neglect is the most common form of child abuse, and because I witness child neglect every day, watching the child in this story trying and failing to meet his own needs in the absence of adult care was very triggering for me.
As someone living in a low socioeconomic area, every day I see children who are literally dirty because those children's caregivers are incapable of bathing them and washing their clothes to a minimum level of basic hygiene. This is due to lack of resources, the non-existence of social services in the United States, chronic stress, poor parenting skills and the disinclination to parent, caregivers placing their needs over those of their children, the culture of poverty in which children in lower socioeconomic households are often treated as possessions, the inability of caregivers to regulate their intake of substances, and/or caregiver non-compliance in their mental health and substance abuse treatment. More often than not these factors are compounded by the fact that these neglected children’s caregivers had parenthood forced upon them as the result of unplanned pregnancies due to abstinence-only sex education and the lack of access to contraception as well as the religious and social taboo against abortion and the lack of access to abortion services.
This picture book was clearly intended to be humorous, but I didn't find it funny. Neglect is the most common form of child abuse, and because I witness child neglect every day, watching the child in this story trying and failing to meet his own needs in the absence of adult care was very triggering for me.
February 13, 2018
This book is just dumb, there are much better books to read to your children.
November 19, 2019
I don’t like how the mom is referred to as “big round mother” 😒
April 16, 2020
Very cute story by a popular children's author. I love the "big round mother!"
April 4, 2023
Such fun repetition and animal behaviors!
... Not sure why the mother asks the boy to watch the animals, and then scolds him for listening to her.
... Not sure why the mother asks the boy to watch the animals, and then scolds him for listening to her.
December 26, 2025
This was adapted from a story. Margaret wise Brown wrote a long time ago, and I think you can see some of the original illustrations along the bottom of the pages in black and white.
February 16, 2017
The different ways that the boy tries to get clean may get some laughs, but the mother drove me crazy. She tells the boy to go watch animals in order to learn how to take a bath, and then when he tries to get clean the way the animals do, she scolds him because, despite the advice she gave him earlier, she thinks he should have known that little boys do not get clean the same way that animals do. It feels like the author had a fun idea but didn't quite know how to execute it, so she settled for a self-contradicting mother that readers are just not supposed to question.
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February 16, 2017Mama read this to me the other night. We talked about how different animals bathe.
February 1, 2018
It might have been cute, but it didn't really make much sense and wasn't endearing enough to make you like it.
Ages: 2 - 6
Cleanliness: The mother is referred to as "big round mother" and the pictures emphasize her rear-end. Someone says "oh, shucks." You see the boys underwear. There is a picture of the boy naked and you see his rear-end.
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
Ages: 2 - 6
Cleanliness: The mother is referred to as "big round mother" and the pictures emphasize her rear-end. Someone says "oh, shucks." You see the boys underwear. There is a picture of the boy naked and you see his rear-end.
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
December 5, 2010
This classic gives account of one very dirty boy in need of a bath. His mother, busy scrubbing clothes, shoos her son off to wash up like the animals on the farm. This doesn't work for him, considering he comes back home even dirtier than before. He arrives home to a big, round mama who grabs him by the back of the neck and scrubs him down in a soapy tub. This book is ideal for Pre-K-1st grade.
April 12, 2012
ThIs book has amazing illustrations and the book is cute and fun until the end where she chastises the kid for doing exactly what she told him to do. My kids like this book but I feel compelled to talk to them about that every time we get to that point because it is so blatant and confusing. I just chalk it up to generational differences but I am not really interested in sharing this one with my kids.
August 8, 2013
Once again the 4 stars is give in the name of dirt from the 5 year old boy! This books takes a muddy mess of a boy with dirt from head to toe on a trip to find out how animals take a bath while his mom finishes her chores. In the end he ends up back home and mom teaches him the way people take a bath. We also enjoyed the fun little picture on the last page - just like the little guy in out house!
June 30, 2015
I think preschoolers would love the section where the little boy goes out and tries to clean himself all the ways he sees animals get clean. I can imagine all sorts of laughing at that.
I wonder if they would find it as odd as I did that the mother is the one who tells him to do so, and then at the end when he comes back reproves him saying that he's not an animal so why is he trying to get clean like one?
I wonder if they would find it as odd as I did that the mother is the one who tells him to do so, and then at the end when he comes back reproves him saying that he's not an animal so why is he trying to get clean like one?
December 14, 2017
PICTURE BOOK 7
I wasn't a huge fan of this book because it kind of portrays a mother saying she is too busy at the moment to teach her son how to take a bath. All the little boy wants is to be clean, but she tells him to go look at the animals and see how they get clean- which only makes him dirtier.
I wasn't a huge fan of this book because it kind of portrays a mother saying she is too busy at the moment to teach her son how to take a bath. All the little boy wants is to be clean, but she tells him to go look at the animals and see how they get clean- which only makes him dirtier.
February 24, 2014
My little boy picked this up at the library and read through the whole thing all by himself, then put it back with the words: "I did NOT like this book, mommy!" I was curious, so I leafed through it myself, and it's not all bad, however my kid did have a point. It's not great!
February 12, 2012
Great illustrations. Cute story.
January 17, 2009
Rylee brought this one home from school. Pretty cute!
September 27, 2010
Super fun! A great story, my two year old loved it. I've had to read it many, many times to him. It's a larger book, the pictures are huge and brightly colored. A great book!
June 11, 2012
Very cute!
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May 31, 2014II
January 21, 2017
The butts in this book get a whole star of their own.
March 16, 2012
I didn't really like this one, I'm not really sure as to why except that I didn't like the wording.
Want to Read
November 26, 2017I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14819211
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14819211
Want to Read
May 30, 2019Nice
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews