Edmund and Washable: A Tale from China Plate Farm

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Chris Jackson’s delightful series of stories set on China Plate Farm
just get better and better. Of the three that I’ve reviewed—the
other two are Edmund and Hillary (1997) and Edmund for Short
(1998)—Edmund and Washable is my favorite.

Nosing through grass looking for fallen apples, Edmund the pig finds a
soft, tiny replica of himself labeled “Washable.” The other animals
in the barnyard are quick to tell Edmund that the toy belongs to “the
girl child,” but Edmund considers him a friend: “The cows have
friends by the herd, sheep have friends by the flock and geese have them
by the gaggle ... why can’t I have a friend just like me?”

Jackson’s skill at wordplay is superb (for example, while the child
hunts for her cloth pig and the other animals worry about her pain,
Edmund consoles himself with rhyming variants on “finders keepers,
losers weepers”). And his gentle, comical illustrations perfectly
complement the story. In the end, prompted by a dream, Edmund gives
Washable back to the girl, who rewards him with a tea party in the
orchard among the fallen apples he loves so well.

Edmund and Washable is a five-star treasure for small children and the
adults lucky enough to read to them. Highly recommended.