“I’m Still Here in the Bathtub turns 10 years old on April 1st! Thanks to all who’ve sung along and laughed along for the past decade!” writes Alan Katz on his Facebook page.
“If you fear you might go on a rampage if you hear the lyrics to “Wheels on the Bus” even one more time,
take heart: These reimagined, “silly dilly” lyrics can breathe new life
into kid favorites like “Wheels,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and even
“Bingo,” reads an amazon.com review.
Just as they did with Take Me Out of the Bathtub, Alan Katz and David Catrow lampoon the classics with rowdy humor and fun-to-sing rhymes. “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”? Nope. Try “He’s Got the Whole Beach in His Pants.” “Frere Jacques” becomes “I’m a menace” and you can forget about old McDonald and his farm–that tune now tells the story of “My friend Donald’s catfish parm.”Katz wisely keeps the lyrics from straying too far into bathroom territory, keeping the fun both palatable and genuinely funny, and illustrator Catrow (Plantzilla, Santa Claustrophobia) again proves an indispensable member of the team, with wry details and memorable characters,” said reviewer Paul Hughes.
Alan Katz has written many books for children and adults,
including the award-winning songbooks Take Me Out of the Bathtub and
Other Silly Dilly Songs and I’m Still Here in the Bathtub, Where Did
They Hide My Presents?, Are You Quite Polite?, Elfis, and Stinky
Thinking. He has also written family humor and puzzles for publications
including Rosie Magazine, The New York Times and the New York Daily
News. He will have a whole bunch of new titles released in 2007,
including Don’t Say That Word!, Hairy Henry, and the trivia series
That’s Right, That’s Wrong!Alan is also a writer-producer with extensive
television credits. He was recently a producer on The Tony Danza Show,
and created and executive produced a reality show pilot (‘Til Monday Do
Us Part) for Oxygen Network He also co-executive produced Apparently
Speaking and wrote Oh Baby, You’re on TV! for Oh!Baby, Oxygen’s
video-on-demand network. In 2006, Alan created and wrote a series of
Dove webisodes starring Felicity Huffman and directed by Penny
Marshall.Alan was also a five-time Emmy nominee for his writing for The
Rosie O’Donnell Show, and he contributed songs and comedy material to
shows and specials such as The 1999 and 2000 Grammy Awards, The 1998 and
2000 Tony Awards, ABC’s A Rosie Christmas special, HBO’s Kids Are
Punny, Fergie, and ABC’s Kids Are People Too. Alan has also created
shows, developed concepts and produced pilots for TNN, VH1, and King
World.
Alan also scripted episodes for animated shows including Taz-Mania,
Goof Troop and Disney’s Raw Toonage (Emmy nominee for Best Writing).
Alan also created and wrote long running stage shows including Glued to
the Tube and The Wheel of Fortune Live Tour, and he developed and wrote
the Nickelodeon Studios Live Tour at Universal Studios in Orlando.
Alan has written print, television and radio advertising and promotional campaigns for a wide array of consumer products and entertainment properties, including Pepsi, McDonald’s, Disney World, The Weather Channel, HBO, Showtime, and many of the Rainbow Media networks.
Alan has written print, television and radio advertising and promotional campaigns for a wide array of consumer products and entertainment properties, including Pepsi, McDonald’s, Disney World, The Weather Channel, HBO, Showtime, and many of the Rainbow Media networks.
As a follow-up to Take Me Out of the Bathtub (McElderry, 2001), Katz packs the same child-appealing humor into sadly sloppy lyrics that don’t scan with the well-known tunes he has tried to fit them to, and which go on far too long. “I Always Lose” (to the tune of “Skip to My Lou”) starts with the loss of a parka, backpack, and tuba, and continues, “Turned around, lunch box was gone/Could’ve sworn I had a hat on/There’s no sign of baby bro Ron/He’s a pain, but he’s darling.” “No Medication” (to the tune of “Down by the Station”) does what most kids dream of doing: “No medication/Don’t care what the doc says/Won’t put that stuff in my belly/Tastes bad, you know/Mom sticks it in ice cream/Thinks that she can fool me/I flick it out the window/Look out below!” Unfortunately, the lyrics are even more awkward and less funny when read aloud instead of sung. Catrow’s over-the-top, zany, mixed-media cartoons may pull readers into this collection that promises fun, but only delivers frustration. – School Library Journal
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