bubble trouble

I usually post a list of our favorite books for the current season and, most often, they're based in a world of gentle imagination or in a wholesome farm, field or forest environment and include one or a number of spirits of nature.  I'd like of step out of that mold and talk about one of our very favorite children's publications that's just a silly and whimsical, rhyming and rollicking good read.

Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy begins with Little Mabel blowing a bubble that ensnares her baby brother and wafts him away.  She and Mother take off after him as he blows over various townspeople who join in the attempt to bring him safely down.  The story isn't much really but the ridiculous, nonsensical (and sometimes tongue tying) rhyme scheme in this book has us giggling every time.  Just read this excerpt...

...There was such a flum-a-diddle (Mabel huddled in the middle),
Canon Dapple left the chapel, followed by the chapel choir.
And the treble singer Abel threw an apple core at Mabel,
as the baby in the bubble bobbled up a little higher.

Oh, they giggled and they goggled until all their brains were boggled,
as the baby in the bubble rose above the little town.
"With the problem let us grapple," murmured kindly Canon Dapple,
"and the problem we must grapple with is bringing Baby down..."

So much fun, don't you think?  Ryan and I actually beg to be the one to read this to Naiya and she nearly knows the entire thing by heart.  (My husband is the one who encouraged me to share this gem on my blog.)  Actually, we've given this book to a number of friends and family and I'm not sure if it's the parents or the kids who enjoy it more.  Maybe it can become one of your favorites too.