A lovely book, charming. Grandmother and Lizzie do the washing using homemade soap, washtub, a wringer, and a clothesline. A great peek at what used to be an all day chore. They finish up with a friendship tea. ( )

Water boiled on the wood stove, washboards, hand wringers, and lye soap are part of laundry day at Grandma’s house. Lizzie would rather be at a tea party but, like the reader, learns a great deal about household tasks in 1889.

"Washday" was a feel good book which reminds the reader of simpler times. The text was wonderful with metaphors and onomatopoeias and it flowed in your head. It follows a little girl presumably named Lizzie who has been called by her grandmother, away from her planned tea party, to come help do the laundry. This book would be great for students because in the book, they hand wash the laundry with lye soap and scrub them by hand, something I'm sure the students would be unfamiliar with. It shows hard work and sacrifice for something helpful and important. They hang the clothes on the line to dry. The dog, Shep, was the perfect character and his mannerisms were described brilliantly. In the end, Lizzie is surprised with her friend coming to her grandmother's house and having her tea party after all. The illustrations were beautiful and I really enjoyed this book. ( )

Makes you appreciate electric washers and dryers. ( )

A little girl whose mother is about due to have a baby, must do the laundry with her grandmother, though she'd rather have a tea party with friends. A rather fond look back at the days before washing machines. The back cover includes period instructions for "Warshing Clothes." The illustrations are light-hearted, yet accurately detailed. A great introduction to historical fiction for preschoolers.
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