It is washday. "Are you ready for work, Lizzie girl?" Grandma asks. "I am," Lizzie replies. It's hard for her to set aside her plans for a tea party, but she rolls up her sleeves. Together Lizzie and Grandma haul the steaming washtub to the workbench and shave lye soap into the boiling water. They rub, rub, rub the clothes over the washboard, pull them through the wringer, and hang them out to dry. In the end, the satisfaction of a job well done, an unexpected guest, and a loving gesture make Lizzie's washday just about perfect.

Author Biography

Eve Bunting, who has written many books for children, including Pirate Boy, was inspired to write Washday when she came across a set of washing instructions written long before the days of electric washers and dryers. She lives in California with her husband. While Brad Sneed illustrated Washday, he tried to give the art the feeling of a memory. "I felt the illustrations should represent a fond recollection--light and form viewed through the gossamer filter of time," he explains. "I was careful to allow colors to merge so that edges are defined not so much by variation in hue or value but by the pencil marks that peek beneath layers of translucent paint." Brad is the award-winning illustrator of more than twenty books for children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and daughter.