Additional information
by Candace Fleming (Author), Julie Downing (Illustrator)
Fred and Helen Martini longed for a baby, and they ended up with dozens of lion and tiger cubs! Snuggle up to this purr-fect read aloud about the Bronx Zoo's first female zookeeper.
When Bronx Zookeeper Fred brings home a lion cub whose mother lost the instinct to care for him, Helen Martini instantly embraces it. "Just do for him what you would do with a human baby," Fred suggests...and she does. Helen names him MacArthur, feeds him milk from a bottle, and coos him to sleep in a crib. Soon, MacArthur isn't the only cub bathing in the Martini's tub! The couple continues to raise lion and tiger cubs as their own, until they are old enough to return to zoos. Helen becomes the first female zookeeper at the Bronx Zoo, the keeper of the nursery. Cubs in the Tub is a terrific non-fiction book to read aloud while snuggling up with your cubs. Filled with adorable baby big cats, this is a story about love, dedication, and a new kind of family. Gorgeously patterned illustrations by Julie Downing detail the in-home nursery, and a warm pallet creates a cozy pairing with Candace Fleming's lovely language. Backmatter includes a short biography of Helen Martini and a selected bibliography. A Junior Library Guild SelectionA Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
Named to the Texas Topaz Reading List
Author Biography
Candace Fleming is the author of more than twenty distinguished books for children including The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia, winner of, among other awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction. She received the NCTE Orbus Pictus Award and a Sibert Honor for Giant Squid. Her most recent book with Holiday House is Honeybee. She lives in Chicago.
Julie Downing has illustrated over forty-five picture books including The Fire Keeper's Son, Tessa Takes Wing and First Mothers. She has won many awards including a Parents Choice Award, the New York Public Library's Best Books Award, APAAL Best Illustrated Book and the Irma Black Silver Medal. Her work has been featured in the SCBWI Original Art Show. Julie teaches illustration to undergraduate and graduate students at the Academy of Art University. She lives in San Francisco.
Number of Pages: 48
Dimensions: 0.2 x 10.5 x 8.2 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: September 16, 2025
Accelerated Reader:
Quiz Name: Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo's First Woman Zookeeper
Interest Level: Lower Grades, K-3
Reading Level: 3.2
Point Value: 0.5
