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Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy

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Bubble Trouble
by Margaret Mahy
illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Clarion Books, 2008, Picture Book

Wow! This book is great! So rich in language, rhyme, alliteration, cadence, and vocabulary! No wonder it's the winner of the 2009 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Margaret Mahy's fun, upbeat poetry is accompanied by Polly Dunbar's whimsical watercolor and cut paper art work.
Bubble Trouble is a bright star in the world of read-alouds . . . but be sure to practice first!

Little Mabel blew a bubble, and it caused a lot of trouble . . .
Such a lot of bubble trouble in a bibble-bobble way.
For it broke away from Mabel as it bobbed across the table,
Where it bobbled over Baby, and it wafted him away.

The baby in the bubble floats gently away with Mabel chasing after. Along the way, various characters, such as; Chrysta Gribble and her lazy brother Greville; Tybal and his jolly mother, Sybil; and the feeble Mrs. Threeble, all join the chase to save Baby. All ends well (of course, it's a picture book) with Baby safely in his mother's arms. Bubble Trouble is an excellent example of a book that can help develop phonemic awareness in young children. What's phonemic awareness, you ask? Come to the library's Emergent Literacy class and find out.

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