Editorial Review

“Have a delicious romp through this amusing story filled with joy and Jewish content. Max does not wish to take his after-dinner bath. He counters his mother with information gleaned from his own experience that despite such grief at home, there are no baths at camp! He proceeds to outline his weekly activities at Jewish, summer, sleep-over camp, each one escalating in dirt and mess, each one not ruined by a bath at the end. The litany of sullied, not spoiled, comes from his age appropriate point of view. Meanwhile, the illustrations indicate the alternative cleaning methods, alternatives he does not register, from rustic spigots, through hoses, hand sanitizers, fresh water lakes, even water balloons, to showers that include hair washes. The picture book repeats these illustrations on the last two-page spread for readers who miss the joke. The tale is fun, to the point, and excellently explicit about Jewish cultural life (sometimes by text, sometimes by picture). In the warm hilarity, there is no feeling the little boy is duped; every age reader smiles. The art is cute, in keeping with the tone, mobile, colorful and age appropriate. One illustration gripe: an adult, the camp director yet, stands on a chair, a school no-no. It is so refreshing to find a genuinely funny Jewish story without moralizing or teaching. Recommended with glee, especially in paperback where two copies cost less than one hardback.”—AJL Newsletter