Get Out of My Bath!

by Britta Teckentrup (Illustrator)

Ellie the elephant loves to have fun in the bath, but she’s not the only one. Her fun is interrupted when a crocodile decides to join her, followed by a flamingo, then a mouse and even a tiger! Poor Ellie’s bath is ruined. What can she do? She sucks all the water into her trunk, of course! Then she waits until all the uninvited animals have left before squirting it back. Finally she can enjoy her bath in peace! A beautifully designed, boldly illustrated picture book for the very young in which readers are encouraged to get involved in the story through tilting and shaking the book.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Juvenile

22 pages, Board Book

First published August 4, 2015

About the author

Britta Teckentrup was born in Germany and moved to England in 1988. She is the author and illustrator of many books for children. She now lives in Berlin with her husband and young son.

Reviews

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable interactive book about bath time fun and games.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author encourages interaction through asking readers to tilt and shake the book, which I feel ambivalent about. The illustrations are colorful, and I liked the shiny finish on the bath water. However, the text seemed unfriendly rather than fun. As the book progresses the bath fills with too many animals, which I found reminiscent of bath time at our house with a bath tub filled with too many toys! It's a cute book but not a keeper.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fav picture book this year I think! Love the texture of the pages, love the art, love the activity! I can't wait to read this to JT while he is in the bathtub!

People who gave this low stars- did you open the book?

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tilt and rock this book to try and get the other animals out of Ellie the elephant's bathtub. Glossy pages and large illustrations make this an eye-catching, attention-grabbing book for younger eyes and wiggly bodies.

Reviewed by: Miss Kelsey, Youth Services, Vernon Area Public Library

[Susan Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book invites the reader to engage with the story and "help" out the elephant. The water is represented by shiny pages.

[Villain E · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of the pages are interactive, like, tilt the book to the right and on the next page the water is leaning right. But half the time you do the activity, turn the page, and it says "That didn't work!" That would be okay once, but not multiple times. I know life can be like that, but I'm just trying to encourage my little ones to be interactive and this seems discouraging.

[Kayla Johnson]

Baby Storytime - Bathtime (and elephants)

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teckentrup is good at bath books (Big Smelly Bear is a favorite of mine for story time), and the interactive aspect works fine here.
Though I do think it's being done a little bit too much. Better than an "app", but can't kids just enjoy a story without prompted interaction? Do parents, teachers & librarians really need his to effectively do books with their kids?
I have reduced the rating by one star because of the paper used. As another reviewer commented (and I'm glad that means it wasn't just me), the shiny parts of the pages are attractive, but they stick together and make it hard to turn the pages. Not good. Not good all.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hilarious interactive book that is perfect for the young ones! While the book tells the reader what to do, and it involves physically using the book, you are able to customize the words to fit what it is you want the littles to do; i.e. instead of shake the book, the kiddos can shake their bodies. I cannot wait to read this book again and watch the expressions on the littles faces.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bath fun book that lets the reader interact. The illustrations are cute and young readers will enjoy the story.
I've seen more clever books that use similar concepts.
The message to simply take the water away until everyone leaves you alone is not my favorite either.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for little people. I feel like this was written by a desperate mom who really needed her kid to bathe.

[Becky]

Elephant is having fun in the bath, but soon everyone else wants to join in. Shiny pages and book-tilting action (making waves) add fun elements to this story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun! I love the books where it tells you to do stuff.The pages kind of stick together though.

[Sunah Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get Out of My Bath! written by Britta Teckentrup tells a story about an elephant named Ellie. Ellie wants to enjoy her bath by herself, but other animal friends keep joining her in the bathtub. It starts getting crowded, so Ellie decides to suck all the water from the bathtub. After other animals leave the bathtub, Ellie could return to enjoying her bath again, telling readers that “Maybe it’s time for your bath now!”
Sometimes, children resist taking a bath because they do not want to be interrupted from what they are doing, or they might think that taking a bath is not fun. This book could be used to trigger them to take a bath like that of the elephant, Ellie, in this book. The author embeds some activities in the middle of the story, telling the readers to shake the book to see what happens to Ellie. That is, the illustrations show the water in the bathtub tilts in the way the readers tilt the book. Regarding this simple activity, I wonder whether the book is published as a digital version. For instance, if the book is published in an app, the real movements of Ellie while she is in the bathtub can be visualized when the readers tilt the gadget in a certain direction. The ways to represent vibrant moods of the story is interesting as well. Waters and splashing are coated with laminations which make the artworks colorful and vibrant. Bolded texts and different sizes of fonts also add an energetic feeling to the story.

[Linda DiGaetano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of Ellie the Elephant who while taking a bath has several visitors such as the Flamingo, a Crocodile and a Tiger to name a few and she wants the animals out of her tub. So she sucks up all the water with her trunk and they leave. After they have left she returns the water to the tub by releasing the water from her trunk to finish enjoying her soak alone. The pictures are cute as they may have the child transact with the story. This maybe useful with regards to children wanting to take a bath. We all know how difficult that can be at times. Pictures are very vivid.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie the elephant loves to have fun in the bath, but she’s not the only one. Her fun is interrupted when a crocodile decides to join her, followed by a flamingo, then a mouse and even a tiger! Poor Ellie’s bath is ruined. What can she do? She sucks all the water into her trunk, of course! Then she waits until all the uninvited animals have left before squirting it back. Finally she can enjoy her bath in peace! A beautifully designed, boldly illustrated picture book for the very young in which readers are encouraged to get involved in the story through tilting and shaking the book.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie is a cute elephant who wants to play in the bath, and the book adds some interactive instructions to let the reader do things like help make waves. The plot is silly, the illustrations have slightly varied textures, and the interactive element adds nicely to the story.

For: readers wanting an interactive book; elephant fans; readers needing a book about bath time.

Possible red flags: some readers may find the book too anxiety-inducing.

[Bella]

What a fun read! A little like Press Here in that it asks you to tip the book or shake it etc. Ellie the elephant just wants to have a bath in peace. I can appreciate that some adults might not like that the message from Ellie is that she doesn't want to share, but as an adult who would dearly love to have a bath in peace I can really relate!

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Teckentrup title is a straight creative story without Teckentrup’s somewhat signature die cuts used in the illustrations. This story has a bathtime setting as more and more animals are in the bath with Ellie the elephant. A very interesting technique in the illustrations is each page has a tactile aspect as the illustrated water has a different feel than anything else on the page. Very nice!

[Sarah Alamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're so proud of you for reading "Get Out of My Bath!". Your reading of the story was absolutely fantastic. The story of Ellie the elephant teaches us that taking personal time for oneself is completely acceptable. You can request time alone when you want to think or relax by using proper politeness. Ellie demonstrated that creativity serves as an effective tool to find solutions to challenges. Your reading skills are developing beautifully into thoughtful reading abilities sweetie.

[Michelle Matash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was very short, but the illustations were great. I liked the use of plastic for water. It didn't have much development, but I think this would be great for very young children before bath time. The text involves the reader to move the book in certain directions to help Ellie move around in the water. I think this will engage the reader.

[Carlie Raybuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to read before bath time. It is an interactive book so the child will have fun reading through the book. To make bath time fun, you could reenact the characters and pretend the child is the elephant with different play animals coming in. The textured pages add a cool element to the story as well.

[ashley folman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get Out of My Bath, is a great book. Its about an elephant that loves to play in the water which means she loves baths. But so does her friends, keep jumping in her bath and splashing all around and ellie doesn't seem to like it. So, she finds a solution and sucks allll the water up so no one could play anymore.

[Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about an elephant taking a bath, but is later interrupted by other animals. I can use this book to teach students about bathtime. The pages are glossy, full page bleed, and motif. It reminds me of taking a bath with another person back when I was little.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. I think it is funny and fun. I read it to a group of 2-year olds and they perhaps did not love it as much as I did, but it was the last book of three and at the end of their attention spans. I still think it is a very fun book. I love the interactivity and the art work.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love interactive picture books. It's often the only way I can get my four year old to sit through an entire book. I thought at first this one wasn't going to entertain him, but he was charmed by the animals, the smooth and shiny bathwater, and there was just enough action to keep him involved.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books that's super easy to incorporate actions into (shaking the book, instructions to say certain things, etc). In this one, Elephant is trying to take a bath, but other animals keep hopping in. This would be great for a toddler or preschool on bathtime/"squeaky clean".

[Aolund · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interactive book perfect for toddlers that invites young readers to have fun with books and bathtime as they help main character Ellie the elephant make sure her bathtime goes just the way she likes.

Themes: Animals, bathtime

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute, engaging book for kids. The art is great, the story is fun, and they even have the kiddos tilt the book from side to side to “help” the elephant with the problems. Another winner by Britta Teckentrup.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will try to add felt board and use for Sensory Story Time. Story line seems a little weak but I can see how I can make this an interactive story.
Need felt: elephant, crocodile, flamingo, tiger, mouse
Might have all the kids hold a little rubber ducky while listening to the story.