Laundry Day

This entertaining book opens with two young badgers, Tic and Tac, beset by the cruelest of childhood fates: boredom. The two are at such a loss for what to do that they take up their mother's request to help hang the laundry. They enthusiastically throw themselves into this new activity and, when they run out of clothes, hang any random household object they can get their hands on. Featuring the same warm watercolors and attention to detail seen in last year's touching Boats for Papa, Bagley's illustrations give readers plenty to pore over. Unlike that book, however, there is no hint of melancholy here. Bagley shows a keen eye for the sometimes off-kilter logic of childhood. While the sight of toilet paper, roller skates, and a bunch of carrots hanging from the laundry line is delightfully absurd, the way in which Tic and Tac get to that point feels authentic. When Ma Badger discovers the bizarre laundry line crisscrossing the yard, she comes up with a fitting consequence for Tic and Tac, playfully leaving them out to dry with the laundry -- with hints of more mischief to come. Injecting a touch of the ridiculous into the mundane, this story shows how even the most tedious of chores has the potential to turn a child's day around. minh le