Aunt Lilly's Laundromat — Melanie Hope Greenberg

Aunt Lilly thinks about her island home, Haiti, and paints colorful pictures of the island while she takes care of the laundry for her neighbors in Brooklyn.

"Aunt Lilly works in a Brooklyn laundromat, sorting, washing, drying and folding, all the while thinking about her childhood in Haiti. Bundles of colored laundry ('blues and greens like the warm Caribbean sea'), gurgling washing machines, etc., conspire to remind her of 'her lovely native land filled with singing birds.' Lilly is happy, taking pride in her work, and when she has a quiet moment she makes paintings based on her childhood memories. Busy illustrations in bold, luminous colors capture Lilly's joie de vivre. 'Her' Haitian pictures, full of exuberance and tropical abundance, transform her sweet longing into canvases of pulsing island life. Greenberg's work has a childlike zest and, at the same time, is imbued with a strong sense of order and design. Her book succeeds as a celebration of fond memory and honest labor. Ages 4-8."
--PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY