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Sunday, May 26, 2013

It's Monday, Mrs. Jolly Bones. Written by Warren Harrison and illustrated by Tricia Tusa. Beach Lane Books, Simon & Schuster, 2013. $19.99 ages 3 and up

"It's Tuesday, Mrs. Jolly Bones. There's gardening to do. The peas and beans need weeding, and the squash need water too. Now hoe those rows of onions. Keep the cornstalks growing high. Then polka through the posy patch and make those flowers fly!

It's Wednesday, Mrs. Jolly Bones."

Mrs. Jolly Bones has it together...she knows exactly what's on her schedule every day of the week! How she gets it done is sure to surprise and delight listeners in this funny rhyming tale.

As with so many others, Monday is a day set aside for laundry. So, she sorts, and washes, and dries, and even irons the clothes (ironing, what's that?). It is what she does with them after her laundry tasks are done that will have little ones guffawing:

"Then fling them out the window...
so they brighten up the street!"

And so it goes, one day to the next. Each routine task is accomplished...gardening, cleaning, shopping, baking, entertaining and finally a restful Sunday. Once done, she adds her own very personal touch to a job well done. Young readers and listeners will enjoy each cheerful antic from stepping in the toilet bowl to stinking up the kitchen.

The sense of rhythm in the text adds a modicum of peace to the wild ride that is happening on each page. Who doesn't love absolute silliness in a readaloud for our youngest listeners? It is such fun to share, and to listen to the hoots as she does just one more crazy thing.

Tricia Tusa's watercolor and ink images are familiar to fans, and definitely add to the 'enjoyability' factor. They are light and carefree, assuring attention to all of the action conveyed by the words. But, you will have to take a careful, close look to see everything! Just check out Mrs. Jolly Bones' attire. Scruffy slippers, sloppy stockings, unruly hair...she's a force to be reckoned with, isn't she?

If you are one of those lovely people who march to the beat of a different drummer, you have found an ally in this witty, playful book!

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