The car washing street

Every Saturday, there is a car wash on Matthew's block, and on the hottest day, all the neighbors and cars and water together make for a very special day. By the author of Red Dancing Shoes.

Grade 1-3-Every Saturday, Matthew, a young African-American boy, loves to sit with his daddy and watch his neighbors, the Rodriguezes, Mr. Henry Hamilton, and Junior Boy Taylor, wash their cars. On this particularly hot day, one splash leads to another, and the car washing ends in a friendly communal water fight. Ward conveys a sense of community and sharing. The double-page spreads punctuated with outlined text blocks draw readers into the scene and give a sense of participation. However, the acrylic paintings lack realistic detail and appear flat and static. The implied routine and regularity of life on this immaculate urban block makes this a refreshing, if not totally believable, story about neighborliness with no conflict and lots of smiling faces.
Lauren Mayer, New York Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

On a summer day, Matthew enjoys a familiar happening: Though his family doesn't own a car, he and Daddy--on a tidy street of brownstones with generous stoops--watch their neighbors wash theirs. As the day heats up, Daddy talks of going in, but just then a dropped hose, wetting somebody's hat, starts a friendly water fight, with kids joining the grownups and a hydrant opened to make sure everyone gets really wet. A simple story, celebrating the joys of a special kind of good fun; Ward captures the good humor in admirable style, in open, realistic paintings that depict these African-Americans and their Latino neighbors as vibrant, friendly, and full of purpose. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 3-7. Every Saturday morning, Matthew and his father sit outside and watch their neighbors wash their cars. On one Saturday, the task is almost over when a good-natured water fight breaks out, and Matthew and his father join in with gusto. Ward's large-scale illustrations portray a sanitized cityscape filled with small apartment buildings and stoops just right for sitting. There is no litter, graffiti, or broken cement in sight, and the black and Hispanic neighbors interact with friendliness and humor. There may be no street like it in all the world, but there should be. Patrick and Ward show a father and son enjoying a commonplace event because they are sharing it. No money is spent, no distance is traveled, nothing extraordinary happens, but it's a memorable Saturday morning. A lovely picture book about life as it could be, should be, and rarely is. Sheilamae O'Hara