It's Monday, Mrs. Jolly Bones!

Monday is laundry day, Tuesday is for gardening, Wednesday is cleaning day, and so on through the week. Industrious Mrs. Jolly Bones tackles each job with gusto, her animal retinue eagerly pitching in. And who wouldn't want to do housework with this cheerful crew? After washing and drying the laundry, Mrs. Jolly Bones irons and folds the clothes "nice and neat," then she "flings them out the window... / so they brighten up the street!" Hanson's cheeky rhyming text expertly delivers each day's punch line, and Tusa's joyful watercolor and ink illustrations help set the pace and bring the story's infectious silliness to a whole new level. Take those animals, for example: a cow, a pig, a goat, and other farm animals in a city apartment? They aren't mentioned in the text (nor is the urban setting), but they fit right into the pictures' merry chaos. Mrs. Jolly Bones saves the weekend for playing and resting...also known as wrestling and yodeling "until midnight with a chicken in your lap." Mrs. Jolly Bones lives up to her name; her irreverent approach to chores is one kids will enthusiastically endorse (up for debate, perhaps: "step into the toilet bowl and give yourself a scrub"). kitty flynn