This week, I have chosen Bubble Trouble for Perfect Picture Book Friday.
Written by Margaret Mahy and Illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Publisher: Clarion Books 2008
Ages: 3-7
Themes: Humor, Imagination
Synopsis: (from book jacket) When little Mabel’s bubble gets away from her, it’s her baby brother who gets into trouble. Soon he’s floating out of the house, above the fence, and all over town! And it’s up to Mabel, Mother, and the rest of the townspeople to get him safely back down. Who knew that so much trouble could come from one little bubble?
Opening Lines:
Little Mabel blew a bubble, and it caused a lot of trouble… Such a lot of trouble in a bibble-bobble way. For it broke away from Mabel as it bobbed across the table, where it bobbled over Baby, and it wafted him away. The baby didn’t quibble. He began to smile and dribble, for he liked the wibble-wobble of the bubble in the air. But Mabel ran for cover as the bubble bobbed above her, and she shouted out for Mother, who was putting up her hair. At the sudden call of trouble, Mother took off at the double,for the squealing left her reeling, made her terrified and tense,
saw the bubble for a minute, with the baby bobbing in it,
as it bibbled by the letterbox and bobbed across the fence.
Resources: I didn’t find resources, as such. I did find this list of Lesson Ideas.
Lesson Ideas:
- Write tongue twisters
- Blow bubbles
- Stop the story midway through and ask children to write their solution to the bubble dilemma
- Word families and rhymes
Why I Like This Book: As you can see from the opening lines, this is rhyming at its best. This book just sings. The rhythm and meter drew me into the silly, playful story from the first line. As the bubble floats through town, everyone tries to help save Baby. The names are so much fun to say: Chrysta Gribble and her lazy brother, Greville; Tybal and his jolly mother, Sybil; crumpled Mr. Copple and feeble Mrs. Threeble. All of this makes for a rollicking romp that will involve the entire neighborhood. The illustrations are beautiful and perfect. The art along with the text will have you bouncing along page after page. This book begs to be read aloud!
Susanna Leonard Hill features Perfect Picture Book Friday on her blog. This is a wonderful resource if you are wondering what books to give as gifts, needing material for a lesson, and mainly just perfect for those who love to read picture books. Here is a list of books by category. This is very handy for finding books for lessons in the classroom, or for finding books on a particular topic to discuss with your children at home. Each book listed has a link to a review and information about that book. There is also an alphabetical list if you scroll down past the category list.
Penny Parker Klostermann 
Penny, I popped back to let you know I have awarded you and your lovely blog the Kreativ and Sunshine awards. Pop over to my blog to pick them.
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Hi Penny,
What a great book! Thanks for giving so much of the rhyme…I loved it!!! The idea of a baby floating over the town in a bubble is hilarious!
I’ll have to try to get a copy of this book…I think it will help me with my own rhyming. 🙂
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It really is amazing how she put it all together! I read it aloud to myself again this weekend. Sooo much fun!
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The rhyme is so well done and I love the imagery of it! Thank you.
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I, actually, had never read about the author until I did this review. I knew she had written a lot of books, but never looked at her bio. I linked to it in my review. Just click on her name. She was born in 1936. This was published in 2008!!! Talk about young at heart. Wow!
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This is such a fun tongue twister. I loved the cover picture, very attractive to the eye and sounds like it will be a lot of fun to read aloud to kids. Thanks for sharing Penny.
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The illustrations are beautiful. Kids will love this…and so will you 🙂
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Seems like a real tongue-twister, and loads of fun! Definitely will be looking this one up. Thanks, Penny!
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Thanks for stopping by the read my review. This book is incredible.
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This sounds great. I love the idea of a bubble carrying someone up up and to the sky! This seems like a great choice this week!
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I know! Isn’t that creative? Just wait until you see how the baby is rescued.
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The rhyme is really great in this book! I like the idea of floating away in a bubble too 🙂
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Yes…that would be a ton of fun. To bibble-bobble away.
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This sounds like a great book. Thanks for sharing!
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It is Jennifer. I have read it many times. I’m hooked.
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This is a fantastic book. We especially love the well-written, tongue-twisting rhyme. It so reminds me of Dr. Seuss. Great pick for today.
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Glad you enjoy it to Kirsten. I don’t know if you happened to read my responses, but Margaret Mahy was born in 1936! She is amazing.
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Yes, I could see where this would be a great read-aloud book. The rhyming is fantastic! Thanks for introducing us to such a fun book.
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Your welcome, Loni. I appreciate you stopping by to read my review.
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Penny, what a deligtful and fun book. The rhyme is so well done and beautiful. I can imagine kids having a ball with this book. Great choice.
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Delightful and fun…Fun and delightful! That really sums it up 😉
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Just as I was going away from rhyme, this is adorable!
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Oh! Rhyme is timeless. I know that a lot of stories aren’t meant to be written in rhyme…but the ones that do it right…there’s just nothing I love more.
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The rhyming made me look it up. It’s called doggerel, which is poetry loosely styled for comic effect. This clearly describes this book. It is so cleverly done. Love it. 🙂
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I think once you read the book, you will see that they rhyme is incredible!It is so clever.
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That rhyme is just plain fun to read aloud. This is a wonderful addition to the PPBF. I will add it to my list. *waving*
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You will love it Robyn. I think everyone will. My head just bobs when I read it 🙂
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Such great, great rhythm, rhyme and word choice! I didn’t know this one, Penny, but know I would enjoy it. It’s on my TBR list.
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You pegged it Joanna….rhythm, rhyme and word choice….all the way to the end. Enjoy!
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Really sounds like a tongue-twister, for sure!
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She makes up words…which sometimes they say is taboo in rhyme, but she does it so well that it just adds more life to the book.
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The rhyme is great. Your lesson ideas sound like resources to me. Thanks for adding another fun title. I’m adding this to my list.
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There are some pretty high level words, but I think kids will “get it” anyway. Personally, I love books that have challenging words thrown in to work on kids “context skills.”
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I have not read this one, but it sounds fantastic and totally fun to read aloud with all those wonderful sounds! I love Margaret Mahy! Did you ever read The Chewing Gum Rescue? Because if you haven’t, you owe it to yourself!!! Thanks so much for sharing this very fun-looking title!
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I have not read that one. I keep a window open on my computer for my library as I read through the PPBF list so that I can put books on hold. My library doesn’t have The Chewing Gum Rescue. Darn! I guess it will have to go on my other list…books I need to buy.
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