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 Selection
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
Named to the Texas Topaz Reading List

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Neal Porter Books
Published: 09/16/2025
ISBN: 9780823461677
Pages: 48
Weight: 0.81lbs
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 509899 / Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo's First Woman Zookeeper
Reading Level: 3.2 / Interest Level: Lower Grade / Point Value: 0.5