I’m Still Here in the Bathtub

I'm Still Here in the BathtubWritten By: Alan Katz
Illustrated By: David Catrow

This crazy book is another one of Alan Katz’s adventures in giving new, spunky lyrics to old, favorite songs. While it is a lot of fun to read alone or with friends, I especially like the creativity it inspires. His songs are hilarious and they show how anyone can choose his or her favorite song and change up the words to make something brand new.

My older daughter and I changed the words to Do Ra Mi from The Sound of Music and turned it into a wild song about a missing car. It was a challenge to stay with the rhythm of an established pattern. My younger daughter and I took the song Say, Say My Playmate, a song that asks a question, and answered it using the same music. Her are the lyrics to the original song and then the lyrics to ours.

Say, Say My Playmate
Say, say my playmate
Come out and Play with me
And bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more,
Shut the door!

Here is our reply:

Say, say my playmate
I cannot play with thee
Though I have dollies three
I’ve never climbed a tree
I do love rainbows
And secret cellar doors
Could we be jolly friends
Tomorrow morn, morn,
Find my door!

Music is a great tool to bring out creativity, so don’t be afraid to get silly, try something new, or even just turn an average day into a song.

Discussion/Project Ideas:
1. Music is a form of poetry. Write out, or find online, the lyrics to a song you know. Count out the beats for each line and find the patterns. Is the chorus the same or different than the other verses?
2. Also with lyrics, find all the different aspects of poetry that you can and mark them. Try rhyme patterns, meter, stanza, verse, etc.
3. Choose a song and write your own lyrics using the same music.
4. Listen to the song, Why Does the Sun Shine, by They Might Be Giants. It is a great song about the sun and what it does for our planet. Choose a song and change the lyrics to explain an idea or event/person in science or history.
Examples: Growth of a plant, water cycle, a day in the life of a specific animal, Benjamin Franklin, first European settlers in America, the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Have fun!