Casey in the Bath

by Cynthia DeFelice
pictures by Chris L. Demarest
© 1996

The Story

Originally published in Cricket magazine, the story of a reluctant bather finds young Casey changing his tune when he creates a tubful of bubbly playmates from a bottle of gooey green bath gel.

Note from the Author

Ideas for books can come even in the bathtub! One night I was taking a bubble bath, using some gooey, new gel I’d been given as a gift. It made the biggest bubbles I’d ever seen! As I sat in the tub popping them, I imagined how wonderful it would be if a little creature came out of each bubble to play. What would they look like? What would they think I was? What might they do?

I knew what my kids would have done if it had happened to them. Ralph would have surely brought his Legos into the tub and built towers and ships and castles for them. His plastic dinosaur collection would likely end up in the tub, as well. Shellie would play her favorite music for them so they could boogie in the tub.
This story also gave me the opportunity to use a word that’s always been a favorite of mine: “bellybutton.”

Reviews

“This silly, soapy romp will have reluctant tubbers begging for a bath. Cynthia DeFelice’s excellent timing and perfect measure of understatement, along with Chris Demarest’s goofy cartoonish pictures, capture the sudsy hilarity of this fantasy. Good, clean fun for all.” – Amazon.com

“When a salesman from the Ambrosial Products knocks on the door promising that his product is guaranteed to make taking a bath a thrilling experience,’ Casey’s mother decides that it’s just what she needs to get her son into the tub. To the child’s delight, the gooey green bubbles pop to reveal tiny, equally gooey green creatures . . . Goofy, cartoon-style art adds exuberant color to the fantasy.” – School Library Journal