Reviews

From Booklist
Ages 5-7. As a young woman searching for work, Aunt Lilly immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, and since that time she has lived in Brooklyn. Now, years later, she runs a neighborhood Laundromat, working hard to earn her living (but not as hard as her family and friends worked in the fields of Haiti). As she sorts and folds, however, she is constantly reminded of her childhood memories of island life--Grandma braiding her hair, the birds, the flowers, and the colors and smells and sounds. Even though she loves the city, Aunt Lilly paints her tropical memories and hangs the canvases on the walls of the Laundromat. In this way she goes about her business, and the quality of her work is rewarded by friendly, repeat customers who enjoy her company and add pleasure to the day. Greenberg's folksy, bright artwork against white pages emphasizes the sunny disposition of her character--an immigrant who meshes the best of two worlds into one. Kathryn Broderick
From Publishers Weekly
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.