Quebecois artist Maurey's elegant, woodblocklike portraits of Francis the fox and his father doing their washing at their neighborhood Laundromat are only part of the charm of this sweet-tempered tale, which derives from a French-language app Boisjoly created. From the loopy rules that govern behavior at the Laundromat ("No tomato slingshots!") to the made-up cleaning products on the shelf ("Brighter Than You!"), Maurey and Boisjoly both celebrate and poke fun at the rituals of everyday urban life. Francis and his father always "make a game of tossing their orphan socks onto the caribou antlers mounted above the window," then go for frozen yogurt while the clothes churn. Francis's Laundromat adversary is the owner's human granddaughter, Lily Rain Boots, who pulls a prank on Francis that scares away Mouse, the Laundromat cat; Francis and Lily are thrown together as they figure out how to bring Mouse back. The ethereal plot is almost beside the point. It's the team's quirky human-animal universe, gentle humor, and close observation that provide the book's ample pleasures-and a big grin of a punch line. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 4-This confusing book begins, "a handsome and well-mannered fellow, Francis is always well dressed. Even on laundry days." Francis is pictured wearing a tuxedo top. The following spread reads, "Most people wear any old things to wash their favorite outfits, but not Francis." Only three of the seven animals pictured are performing actions that could be related to doing laundry. Then, readers learn that since their move to an apartment, Francis and his father must now go to a Laundromat. The little fox is uncomfortable until he realizes that the outing will give him time away from his noisy little sister. No adult is seen caring for Lola as father and son make their escape. At the Laundromat, the owner's granddaughter, Lily Rain Boots, engages in destructive behavior, flooding her grandfather's business with soap bubbles, frightening his cat, and scaring a customer, thereby jeopardizing the man's livelihood. When everyone goes to search for the cat, the little girl feels mildly guilty, then can't resist being mischievous one more time. When Francis and his father arrive back home, they discover a customer's "giant underpants" in their laundry. One has to wonder why Lily's nasty behavior should be considered amusing as her pranks are offensive and she is totally unlikable. A washout.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An omniscient narrator describes the everyday happenings of dapper fox Francis--especially his dealings with the cast of (human) characters at his local Laundromat. Francis's concerns are overwhelmingly adult ("What could be better than freshly washed clothes and bedsheets?"), which may put off young readers; the same goes for the art, though it's handsome and compositionally playful (e.g., several pages are blank). (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Translated from the French, this tale based on the app Renaud le petit renard perhaps loses something in print. Francis is a smartly dressed little fox who spends Saturdays with his father at Mr. Li's Small Socks Laundromat. He likes getting away from his annoying little sister, Lola, but fears Mr. Li's granddaughter, Lily Rain Boots, who is always playing tricks. He makes lists of things he likes about laundry day (mixing patterns and colors! Sock tossing!), but while he and his dad are out having frozen yogurt, Lily adds lots of extra detergent to their laundry. It makes a huge mess of bubbles and terrifies the laundry cat, whose name is Mouse. Calling for Mouse terrifies the buxom Madame Bernadette, who thinks it's a real mouse. Lily guiltily cleans up the mess but not before playing one final trick, which involves the beribboned unmentionables of the zaftig Madame Bernadette. And that's about it, but it takes over 90 pages to get there. The simple shapes in dusty pastels evoke a French or Qubecois city in which animals walk upright and dress as nattily as the humans. Mr. Li and Lily are definitely Asian, and Madame Bernadette wears high heels and a heart-shaped neckline. The tale has a random feel about it, but one might suppose that underpants of any gender are always amusing to the under-7 set. (Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.