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Silly Dilly Songs
I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs
If you like...
"Wheels on the Bus"
and
"Itsy Bitsy Spider,"
you'll go NUTS for
"The Meals at My Camp"
and
"Tiny Baby Brother"!
Songwriter and comedy writer par excellence Alan Katz has done it again! He's turned fourteen favorite songs upside down and created new nonsense songs kids will love. With hilariously funny pictures by illustrator and cartoonist David Catrow, this new collection promises giggles, guffaws, and hours of silly dillyness for kids everywhere!
"Wheels on the Bus"
and
"Itsy Bitsy Spider,"
you'll go NUTS for
"The Meals at My Camp"
and
"Tiny Baby Brother"!
Songwriter and comedy writer par excellence Alan Katz has done it again! He's turned fourteen favorite songs upside down and created new nonsense songs kids will love. With hilariously funny pictures by illustrator and cartoonist David Catrow, this new collection promises giggles, guffaws, and hours of silly dillyness for kids everywhere!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
October 29, 2018
This is a very fun book full of poetry! It has a lot of silly poems that are supposed to be read (or sang) to a popular nursery rhyme tune. This would be a great book for a poetry unit in any grade to get students excited about poetry!
August 4, 2011
I’m Still Here in the Bathtub is a hilarious collection of poems that should be sung to the tune of familiar songs like, “Three Blind Mice”; “Itsy Bitsy Spider”; and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. The poems included in this collection are sure to have any child, or adult, laughing. As the title states, these are “silly dilly songs” and they include a variety of silly dilly topics. From an itchy sweater and uncomfortable clothes, not wanting to eat Brussels sprouts, losing many possessions, to not wanting to get out of the bathtub, young readers are sure to connect. The only thing I found challenging about reading these poems was keeping a tune to the song they are recommended follow. It’s more entertaining to sing them versus read them but if you struggle to stick with the song it can be a little frustrating. However, even if you can’t keep a tune these poems are sure to entertain! Just be sure if you are going to share these with students you practice a little first, or you’ll be left feeling silly!
In addition, to creative, humorous poetry the illustrations add to the silliness of this book. David Catrow, one of my favorite illustrators, has created yet another masterpiece of pencil drawings that fill the page with plenty of silly detail. You will need to stop and examine each page before going on to the next.
I think this book would be best read for enjoyment, but if you must connect it to the classroom…. I could be used in a K-1 classroom to identify rhyming words. The students will be amused, and are sure to identify onset and rhyme. In an intermediate classroom, poems could be read without showing illustrations and students would have a blast drawing the images these silly poems bring to their minds. It would be neat to compare their drawings to David Catrow’s to look for similarities and differences. If you enjoy I’m still here in the Bathtub, Alan Katz has a book published previous to this one called, “Take Me Out of the Bathtub.”
Oh, my favorite poem is, “He’s got the Whole Beach in his Pants,” sung to the tune of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”! I’m not sure what I liked more, the fact that I could sing this one the whole way through keeping with the tune, the story behind the poem, of the illustration of a baby, wearing a diaper, standing on a huge mound of sand in the house.
In addition, to creative, humorous poetry the illustrations add to the silliness of this book. David Catrow, one of my favorite illustrators, has created yet another masterpiece of pencil drawings that fill the page with plenty of silly detail. You will need to stop and examine each page before going on to the next.
I think this book would be best read for enjoyment, but if you must connect it to the classroom…. I could be used in a K-1 classroom to identify rhyming words. The students will be amused, and are sure to identify onset and rhyme. In an intermediate classroom, poems could be read without showing illustrations and students would have a blast drawing the images these silly poems bring to their minds. It would be neat to compare their drawings to David Catrow’s to look for similarities and differences. If you enjoy I’m still here in the Bathtub, Alan Katz has a book published previous to this one called, “Take Me Out of the Bathtub.”
Oh, my favorite poem is, “He’s got the Whole Beach in his Pants,” sung to the tune of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”! I’m not sure what I liked more, the fact that I could sing this one the whole way through keeping with the tune, the story behind the poem, of the illustration of a baby, wearing a diaper, standing on a huge mound of sand in the house.
April 1, 2011
This book uses new stories with old nursery rhymes to pull students in. Students can connect with the familiar songs and draw on prior experiences. Exploring the concepts of poems is also a great way to gear this book toward students.
February 3, 2024
new words for songs, but wouldn't want to give the ideas to children.
April 16, 2018
This story is a fun way to talk about poetry and rhyming. It gets the students thinking about sounds within words and can help overall with fluency and confidence when it comes to reading. I would recommend this book to lower elementary classrooms based on the wording and the fact that you sing the poems throughout the story. One unique feature is the way in which you are supposed to read the story, by singing the poems to different, well-known songs such as Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mary Had a Little Lamb and much more.
April 12, 2024
Alan Katz takes familiar songs like The Itsy-Bitsy Spider and transforms it into Tiny Baby Brother.
My tiny baby brother
took our remote control
when I wasn't looking
he flushed it down the bowl
Mom said it's my fault
and when I watch him again
then my tiny baby brother
must stay in his playpen!
Silly, humorous and fun illustrations. My third graders love this book!
My tiny baby brother
took our remote control
when I wasn't looking
he flushed it down the bowl
Mom said it's my fault
and when I watch him again
then my tiny baby brother
must stay in his playpen!
Silly, humorous and fun illustrations. My third graders love this book!
September 27, 2017
I loved this book! It would be a great tool to use to get children up and interactive with the text. You can sing the passages to a certain tune which is a great way to get kids interested in poetry.
September 28, 2020
It had a good selection of silly songs. My favorite was "I'm a Menace". I enjoyed the illustrations more in this book than the other books I've read despite that the style is the same in the Silly Dilly Book Series.
September 29, 2020
I use to love this book as a child! It has fun rhymes that you can make into a song using famous children's music. It could be a great idea to read one of them during a transition break because they are short and easy. I think that the students in a class would have fun with these poems.
December 5, 2020
This is a fun book for children to participate in. It can help improve their reading speed and comprehension, as it is attached to familiar songs that kids learn in school. I think the illustrations might be kind of strange for some kids, but the book would still be good for a classroom.
February 22, 2018
I didn't like this book because it is not my level of reading.
January 28, 2019
If possible I think I like this even better than the original. Holds up great, very funny.
November 25, 2019
This is a funny collection of rhyming songs.
September 24, 2020
I think kids will like this. I didn't know a couple of the tunes for the songs, but they'd be easy to find online. A couple references were outdated, but I don't think it's a big deal.
Read
October 4, 2020Silly poems to the tune of other kids songs. Lots of fun!
January 2, 2021
1/2/21 read - new words to tunes everyone knows like the ABCs and Itsy Bitsy Spider. Cute.
Own - old library book
Own - old library book
January 21, 2022
I absolutely loved this as a kid, it is delightfully silly and my young nephews love it just as much as I did!
March 19, 2022
A fun collection of alternative song lyrics.
May 22, 2023
A cute collection of parody songs to sing to your kids.
October 21, 2023
1/2/21 read - new words to tunes everyone knows like the ABCs and Itsy Bitsy Spider. Cute.
Own - old library book
Own - old library book
September 23, 2024
As a child this book made me very nauseated by the illustrations, no offense but David Catrow is very scary drawing
Want to read
January 8, 2025adding this book so i remember to look for it when i go to my grandparents house 🤣
August 5, 2016
When I was a kid how I felt about this book was this: it's stupid. The point of children's songs that parody other classic songs is that the parodies deal with "taboo" subjects and offend adults. This is what makes them funny. Think of every single "parody song" that is actually passed around by kids and spreads.
"This is land is my land, this land ain't your land, I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one. I'll blow your head off if you don't get off my land. This land was made for only me."
"Joy to the world, Barney's dead, we barbecued his head. Don't worry bout the body, we flushed it down the potty. around and around it goes."
"Dashing through the snow with a pair of broken skis. O're the hills we go, crashing into trees. Snow is turning red, think I'm almost dead. Wake up in the hospital with stitches in my head." (The version I learned would go into "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" after this, though I'm sure a chorus that actually matches the verse exists somewhere.)
"I hate you, you hate me, we're an angry family with a great big punch and a kick to the head, glad to say that Barney's dead."
-
These songs are all, from a child's point of view, quite rebellious. Adults tell kids not to talk about murder, guns, blood, hating people, and toilets. These songs probably became popular because kids were forcibly subjected to the originals, grew bored/frustrated with them, and sang their humorous versions as an act of rebellion. For example, in elementary school, my class was rather fond of singing "This land ain't your land" when we were practicing for our patriotic music show.
These songs are also quite simple and easy to remember and spread around, while still being funny.
The songs in this book fit none of the patterns of songs that kids genuinely like, find funny, and spread around. No potty humor, Barney insults, or violence to be found here. The songs are also too complicated and differ too much from the originals to easily memorize and pass on to other kids (and before you say, "well duh, it's an actual book and the content needs to be better than things kids come up with to amuse themselves" - parody songs are actually funnier when they have lots of phrases that mirror the originals rather than just being to the same tune). The author does seem to be trying to mimic the kind of rebelliousness that appeals to kids, by writing from a child's point of view about things kids don't like. For example, the song about aunts demanding kisses, or gross food at summer camp. But it's too sanitized and G-rated to genuinely appeal to kids, and to make it more condescending half the songs end by showing the kid to actually be in the wrong. For example, the first song in the book is a kid complaining about being left in the bathtub too long, but the whole thing is the kid's fault, because when the mom comes for them they demand five more minutes.
The author should watch Jimmy Neutron or another Nickelodeon show to get how to do this kind of joke right.
On top of all that, the art is HIDEOUS. its trying to be what kids think of as funny but it's actually just ugly and not funny at all.
I remember thinking that in spite of MOST of the author's first "silly song" book being lame like this, it had a couple funny lines which made the book worth owning. But this book I always HATED.
On the other hand, the kids I work with were better behaved when I read/sang them this book than any other I ever have. I guess they can pay attention to music more easily than narrative, in spite of them all complaining about not getting to read a story. So there's that.
Anyway I know I probably analyzed too much and this review contains more text than the actual book. When I was reunited with it at work, all the childhood loathing I felt for this book came back and I felt compelled to vent now that I have the words to express why I don't like this book besides just "it's stupid."
"This is land is my land, this land ain't your land, I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one. I'll blow your head off if you don't get off my land. This land was made for only me."
"Joy to the world, Barney's dead, we barbecued his head. Don't worry bout the body, we flushed it down the potty. around and around it goes."
"Dashing through the snow with a pair of broken skis. O're the hills we go, crashing into trees. Snow is turning red, think I'm almost dead. Wake up in the hospital with stitches in my head." (The version I learned would go into "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" after this, though I'm sure a chorus that actually matches the verse exists somewhere.)
"I hate you, you hate me, we're an angry family with a great big punch and a kick to the head, glad to say that Barney's dead."
-
These songs are all, from a child's point of view, quite rebellious. Adults tell kids not to talk about murder, guns, blood, hating people, and toilets. These songs probably became popular because kids were forcibly subjected to the originals, grew bored/frustrated with them, and sang their humorous versions as an act of rebellion. For example, in elementary school, my class was rather fond of singing "This land ain't your land" when we were practicing for our patriotic music show.
These songs are also quite simple and easy to remember and spread around, while still being funny.
The songs in this book fit none of the patterns of songs that kids genuinely like, find funny, and spread around. No potty humor, Barney insults, or violence to be found here. The songs are also too complicated and differ too much from the originals to easily memorize and pass on to other kids (and before you say, "well duh, it's an actual book and the content needs to be better than things kids come up with to amuse themselves" - parody songs are actually funnier when they have lots of phrases that mirror the originals rather than just being to the same tune). The author does seem to be trying to mimic the kind of rebelliousness that appeals to kids, by writing from a child's point of view about things kids don't like. For example, the song about aunts demanding kisses, or gross food at summer camp. But it's too sanitized and G-rated to genuinely appeal to kids, and to make it more condescending half the songs end by showing the kid to actually be in the wrong. For example, the first song in the book is a kid complaining about being left in the bathtub too long, but the whole thing is the kid's fault, because when the mom comes for them they demand five more minutes.
The author should watch Jimmy Neutron or another Nickelodeon show to get how to do this kind of joke right.
On top of all that, the art is HIDEOUS. its trying to be what kids think of as funny but it's actually just ugly and not funny at all.
I remember thinking that in spite of MOST of the author's first "silly song" book being lame like this, it had a couple funny lines which made the book worth owning. But this book I always HATED.
On the other hand, the kids I work with were better behaved when I read/sang them this book than any other I ever have. I guess they can pay attention to music more easily than narrative, in spite of them all complaining about not getting to read a story. So there's that.
Anyway I know I probably analyzed too much and this review contains more text than the actual book. When I was reunited with it at work, all the childhood loathing I felt for this book came back and I felt compelled to vent now that I have the words to express why I don't like this book besides just "it's stupid."
April 10, 2018
Poetry- These poems go along with well-know songs so it is fun to sing them with kids. These are also good for fluency exercises. My second graders loved these.
October 1, 2019
I gave this book a 5 star because I love the poems in this book go with a silly song.
This is the second part of I'm Here in the Bathtub. The little kid is still in the bathtub singing every song.
This is the second part of I'm Here in the Bathtub. The little kid is still in the bathtub singing every song.
Read
December 14, 2017Published in 2003, this poetry book would be great to get students started writing, if diagramming sentences isn’t working for getting them excited.
December 3, 2013
Title: I’m Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs
Author: Alan Katz
Illustrator: David Catrow
Edition: Hardcover, first edition
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date of Publication: 2003
Place of Publication: New York
A fun book to read to any child, this collection of silly songs/poems is perfect for teaching a child rhyme and rhythm New words are paired with familiar songs such as "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Three Blind Mice," and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." And children laugh and relate to the songs as they deal with everyday hassles such as uncomfortable clothes, not wanting to eat their vegetables, losing possessions and not wanting to get out of the bathtub.
Each page has detailed illustrations with many hidden objects that can entertain a child for hours just looking at the pages. I would strongly suggest practicing the songs before reading to a child since the words to the familiar tune may wish to crop up instead of the new words presented in the book. Tumbling over words can lead to some laughter on the child's part, but it still makes an entertaining bedtime story even without messing up the words to the song. As well, some of the songs may not be familiar, even though the majorities are. Other than this, I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to teach their children rhythm and poetry, as well as anyone who likes to occasionally sing a silly song.
This book did not win any awards, though its predecessor "Take Me Out of the Bathtub" was nominated for the Book Sense Book of the Year in 2002 and has been honoured by Publisher’s Weekly for the Cuffie Award for Funniest Book.
Author: Alan Katz
Illustrator: David Catrow
Edition: Hardcover, first edition
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date of Publication: 2003
Place of Publication: New York
A fun book to read to any child, this collection of silly songs/poems is perfect for teaching a child rhyme and rhythm New words are paired with familiar songs such as "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Three Blind Mice," and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." And children laugh and relate to the songs as they deal with everyday hassles such as uncomfortable clothes, not wanting to eat their vegetables, losing possessions and not wanting to get out of the bathtub.
Each page has detailed illustrations with many hidden objects that can entertain a child for hours just looking at the pages. I would strongly suggest practicing the songs before reading to a child since the words to the familiar tune may wish to crop up instead of the new words presented in the book. Tumbling over words can lead to some laughter on the child's part, but it still makes an entertaining bedtime story even without messing up the words to the song. As well, some of the songs may not be familiar, even though the majorities are. Other than this, I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to teach their children rhythm and poetry, as well as anyone who likes to occasionally sing a silly song.
This book did not win any awards, though its predecessor "Take Me Out of the Bathtub" was nominated for the Book Sense Book of the Year in 2002 and has been honoured by Publisher’s Weekly for the Cuffie Award for Funniest Book.
November 8, 2017
I LOVE the use of new stories with old nursery rhymes. Having the familiar rhymes will draw students in, as they will be able to connect with them. The poems were hilarious and I enjoyed reading them. Great for introducing children to poems.
February 18, 2014
This is a fun poetry book with each poem set to the tune of many popular children’s songs. Alan Katz does a great job of adding a fun and silly character to each poem like in the case of the little boy in the poem, I’m a Menace. In the picture your eyes can spend endless time trying to discover all the ways this little boy has caused destruction like all the broken windows and holes in the roof. The pencil drawings done by David Catrow help to bring life to all the poems with these fun details. These poems can be helpful in teaching onset and rhyme to young students in grades K-2. The way they are set to tunes of fun songs can help them be followed along with in many ways. One issue I see would be if the students aren’t familiar with a specific song it could make it difficult to find the right rhythm when reading. I know I had some trouble staying in tune with Aunt Bea Says in the tune of the alphabet song. This book does come along with a musical CD that can be used to follow along with the poems, which I think could help if listened to before reading so that you can get familiar with the tunes needed to read. Even though this book can be hard to follow along with in some of the songs it is still a great read for young kids to use with a poetry lesson. Anytime you can find a hook when beginning poetry lessons like adding music it is a plus. This could be a fun extension for a music lesson to see what other songs you could use and try making words to go along with the tune of the song. I can see kids having a blast coming up with ideas for new poems and songs.
February 27, 2015
I'm still here in the bathtub by Alan Katz, is a collection of nonsense poems that entertain the reader. I enjoyed the way the poems were put together and that they are set to silly songs that children know; take me out to the ballgame, and the itsy bitsy spider are two. Each poem has wonderful rhyme and sound, which incorporate the musical sound. Onomatopoeias are in use throughout the collection of poems, itchy, and squeak, this helps imitate the sound of the poem. Imagery is used as well throughout the collection of poems to enhance the poems for the reader, "Slobbers like a wet pooch when she gives me a smooch". Finally, the illustrations are very entertaining throughout the book and enhance the poems. The colors and light are vivid and intricate, which catches the readers eye. This collection of poems could be used in a third-grade classroom when writing a lesson plan about poetry definitely! A teacher or parent could also use this collection to deal with daily activities that happen in children's lives. Such as being sick, "no medication" or while taking a bath, "I'm still here in the bath tub". The more you read poems to children the more they will enjoy, and it helps their cognitive development. This is a collection of poems that I would recommend to teachers and parents!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews