Ma Dear's Aprons by Patricia C. McKissack

The artwork, done by the immensely talented Floyd Cooper in oil wash on board, captures both that hard work, and the loving relationship between Ma Dear and David Earl. The narrative is engaging, and emphasizes the back-breaking work that Ma Dear must do, in order to support her family. McKissack created this moving, heartfelt portrait of the loving bond between an African-American mother and son in the American South at the beginning of the twentieth century. On Sunday, the day of no work and no apron, they head to the park after church for a picnic.īased on the stories handed down in her family about her great-grandmother, author Patricia C. But whatever color she is wearing, and whatever she is doing, hardworking Ma Dear is never too tired to tell her son stories, or give him a special treat. Each day has its appointed task - laundry on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, deliveries on Wednesday, visiting shut-ins on Thursday, cleaning houses on Friday, and baking on Saturday - and each day has its different color apron.

(Apr.David Earl always knows what day of the week it is, based on his mother, Ma Dear's aprons. His work abounds, too, with period details (non-electric irons, wash tubs, huge laundry baskets). Cooper's (Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea) always luminescent oil washes here radiate the warmth of a loving mother-son relationship. One caveat: the story, so polished throughout, drops off abruptly on the final page. With Ma Dear's gentle words and attentiveness to David Earl, even in the face of her obvious weariness, the author offers a lesson in strength and kindness.

Her imagery (''a wind-dried sheet that smells of peach blossoms'') is as bright and crisp as the ''snappy-fresh'' aprons. More or Less) writes with fondness and respect about an African American widow who takes on exhausting work in order to support her son, and the early-20th-century setting-an era that knew few household appliances-renders her story all the more poignant. Tuesday's yellow apron means it's ironing day the green apron says it's Wednesday, when the laundry gets delivered to ''the rich people.'' And so goes the rest of the week until Sunday, a special day when Ma Dear doesn't do any work-and needs no apron at all. If Ma Dear puts on her blue apron, ''the one with the long pocket across the front,'' then young David Earl knows it must be Monday, wash day.

Ma Dear's Aprons by Patricia C. McKissack