About This Book:
Oge Mora’s Saturday meets Carmela Full of Wishes in this touching and whimsical picture book about a mother and child’s last trip to their local laundromat before moving away.
Every Sunday after cereal, Sam and Mom walk to the laundromat, wash their clothes, and see their friends. But this Sunday is different. Today, doing laundry means packing clean clothes in boxes to move away. Sam doesn’t want to leave their neighborhood and friends. Maybe if they hope with all their might, they can turn a washing machine into a wishing machine!
Sam’s imagination transforms the mundane into a series of wonders as they cope with change and learn the true meaning of home.
*Review Contributed By Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer*
Wash Day Blues
The idea of wishing is one that young children will embrace, and some of the friends at the laundromat have more realistic wishes than others. The problem with wishes is that sometimes there is not way for them to come true, and Sam’s acceptance of this is well portrayed.
Alam’s illustrations capture the warm feel of a laundromat on a snowy day; I especially liked the steamed up windows. Sam’s mother is looking a bit tired and harried, but she lets him have a bag of cookies from a vending machine when they have money left. The vending machine also spits out a lot of excess change, but Sam’s mother encourages honesty, and the two give the money back.
I haven’t seen many other books about laundromats other than The Laundromat Cat
by Giangrande and Huang, but Sam’s story would be at home with books about moving, like Medina and Sanchez’ Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away, or Yamasaki’ and Lendler’s Everything Naomi Loved. What I would like to see is an entire picture book about how enthralling vending machines are, or the lure of the gumball machines that produce tiny toys.
