THE BATHTUB PRIMA DONNA

This fine little enchantment from Brouillard follows the consequences of a prima donna discovering the tap will issue no water for her morning bath. “When Prima Donna woke it was a beautiful day./That is what she ordered and she always had her way.” She yodels to the morning and then runs into difficulty with that tub. So off she goes with a score and a music stand; “she climbed the highest hill./She paused and took a deep breath, and then began to trill” a rain song about a hollow where a village’s inhabitants are accustomed to perpetual sunshine. They are surprised when rain begins to fall, then are driven from their houses as the storm waters rise: “They quickly fled the village to seek a drier shore/while the waters swelled up to an even higher score.” By the time she stops singing, Prima Donna has filled her landscape with a vast sea, in which she happily takes a good soak. Brouillard’s illustrations are gems: a beckoning village square, a storm of operatic dimensions, and an unforgettable songbird. (Picture book. 4-8)