ESTELLE TAKES A BATH
By Jill Esbaum
Illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma
Henry Holt, 2006
Category: Picture book fiction
A naked woman. A bubblebath. A mouse. Unlikely ingredients for a picture book, you say? Think again.
Amidst the hoopla over Susan Patron’s use of the word “scrotum” in her Newbery-medal winning novel THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY, I thoroughly enjoyed this risqué picture book. Dear Estelle is surprised by a mouse while taking her bath, and she freaks. Chaos ensues. Estelle leaps from the tub, grabs a broom, and gives chase … all in the nude. The mouse—also nude—runs for his life. The art is outrageous and the language is bouncy and the combination is fun, Fun, FUN.