It's Monday, Mrs. Jolly Bones!
Mrs. Jolly Bones lives with a menagerie—a pig, cow, chicken, bunny—and she has an utterly unique take on housekeeping. Monday is laundry day, and the task starts out in the usual way: she gathers the dirty clothes and then washes, dries, and irons them. And then the fun begins—one by one, each freshly laundered item is tossed gaily out the window, where they brighten up the street! Wednesday, cleaning day, is no less kooky, as Mrs. Jolly Bones sweeps and scrubs, before strapping on a snorkel and cleaning herself up (bubbles and all) in the toilet bowl. Hanson’s supersilly story provides great material for an illustrator, and Tusa capitalizes on every opportunity with her joyful, signature watercolor-and-pen loose line drawings, depicting a flighty housekeeper and her bevy of animals who wear pops of muted color in the form of pearls and kerchiefs. This color palette continues throughout to lovely effect, particularly on busy spreads with black-and-white backgrounds and pastel-colored details. Most kids hate chores, so they’ll appreciate the housekeeping skills on display here. Preschool-Grade 2. --Ann Kelley