“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.” This rollicking story first appeared in the United States in Bubble Trouble and Other Poems and Stories (Margaret K. McElderry, 1992). Now it’s a stand-alone picture book guaranteed to twist tongues and delight readers and listeners as it follows the fate of Baby. Floating freely, the bubble-bundled boy is joined by a growing formation of family members and friends who give chase. The pace of Margaret Mahy’s exuberant narrative is exhilarating: Rhyme builds on rhyme with playful twists and turns of language, while alliterative action abounds. Mahy spares no silliness in a story deftly illustrated in this edition by Polly Dunbar. (Ages 4–8)

In rhyming text that is as bubbly as the story it tells, “Little Mabel blew a bubble, and it caused a lot of trouble . . .” (n.p.). Mabel’s bubble bobs and bobbles and wafts Baby away. Baby’s bubbly, bobbling adventure as he travels inside the bubble continues until a pebble from a slingshot bursts the bubble. Not to worry, Mabel and her friends save Baby with a “calculated catch” (n.p.). Dunbar’s humorous illustrations and the rollicking rhythm of the text make this a great read-aloud choice. 2010 USBBY Outstanding International Books List 2010, Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Book. Margaret Mahy re ceived the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Order of New Zealand, the highest honor a citizen can receive. ca

Originally published by Frances Lincoln Great Britain, in 2008.