A sweetly old-fashioned story about a young Black boy, David Earl, and his mother. David Earl can tell the days of the week by which apron Ma Dear is wearing: the one with the long pocket (for clothespins) for laundry day, the brown one for cleaning day, cheerful pink for visiting day - and no apron at all on Sunday, their day of rest.

Floyd Cooper's large-scale oil wash on board illustrations enhance the story's beautiful, old-timey feel; the text is on the longer side, better for older readers/listeners (K-3).

See also: What Is Given From the Heart by Patricia McKissack, This Is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson ( )

David Earl always knows what day of the week it is, based on his mother, Ma Dear's aprons. 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. 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. On Sunday, the day of no work and no apron, they head to the park after church for a picnic...

Based on the stories handed down in her family about her great-grandmother, author Patricia C. 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. The narrative is engaging, and emphasizes the back-breaking work that Ma Dear must do, in order to support her family. 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. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-book family stories, especially those featuring poverty, working people, and/or African-Americans. ( )

Floyd Cooper's illustrations are made of an oil wash on board. This gives the pictures a rustic, poor standard of living feel. The color scheme of neutral colors were able to highlight certain objects such as the aprons throughout the story. This book was set in the early 1900's when many African American women devoted their lives catering to rich white women as their source of income. Each colored apron designated which job or chore the little boy and his mother was going to be doing for that day of the week. Each day gives factual information on the current events or way of life during this decade in America. The strength of the mother was made prominent throughout the story. No matter how hard she work or how tired the mother was, she always made time for her child. The story is told in the third person's point of view because it helps illuminate both the mother and the boy's emotions. ( )

This book showed a young boy that paid close attention to his mother to know that she had several jobs and that there was an apron for each on of them. He also knew why she wore the apron she wore on that particular day. he went everywhere with his mother and didn't like it sometimes but he made the best of it. I would recommend this book to everyone but to school children especially. ( )

ESL classroom use: non-proper English introduction, dialects, noun usage. ( )