The seven washerwomen for the village are overworked and underpaid when their master, Mr Balthazar Tight, brings them their heaviest load yet. This proves to be the final straw. So, with the help of a goat named Lysander, the washerwomen put the laundry aside and charge into market to wreak as much havoc as they can. And all that washing has made them rather strong…

Review: As you would expect from the good friend of an illustrator who creates lovably zany characters with splotchy colouring and wide-eyed sketches, author John Yeoman has written a delightful tale of almost non-stop wackiness that will give all ages a reason to giggle. With a plot as bold and scraggly as a Quentin Blake hairdo, the few words per page are all that’s necessary to conjure up imaginative, unpredictable chaos. I don’t doubt that Yeoman and Blake would have worked together on the plot, as it lends itself perfectly to the Blake style of illustration. At once, each spread picks out the salient points of the text, adds some more bizarre background detail, and yet has the characters charging off the edge of the page and thus allowing you to imagine a scene of bigger carnage than the book can hold.

 Reading this with your child, there will be much to point to, and many questions to ask, making it a great bedtime read. And in typical Yeoman/Blake fashion, the plot winds down towards the end, again allowing this to be a bedtime favourite. A very traditional fairy tale message lands at the end of an otherwise thoroughly farcical romp. If the book has a fault, it could only be that some might find the Blake style to be overly chaotic, and predictably unpredictable – there’s little here that will surprise or delight anymore than any other book with Blake’s brushstrokes. But why change what works?

A child’s imaginative arsenal will be further strengthened with the endless possibilities as to how disorder can lead to adventure. One wonderful classroom technique would be to stop reading at page 23 and let your children’s imaginations run riot with the washerwomen themselves. After they’ve dreamt up their own anarchic scenes and had the opportunity to present them to the world through drama, art, or even writing, read them the last few pages to calm them down for hometime.

2009-05-09