Review of the Day: Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan

Every Monday Mabel

By Jashar Awan

Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

$19.99

ISBN: 9781665938150

Ages 3-6

On shelves now

When I tell you that I prefer picture books that respect kids to the ones that talk down to them, do you understand what I mean by that? I find that it’s a little hard to explain. You see, the picture book that respects the child reader, takes kids seriously. And I’m not saying that they’re serious books. I mean that they treat kids like people. Small people, sure. People that sometimes have undeveloped prefrontal cortexes, absolutely. But doggone it, they’re people and they have distinct personalities and things that they like and dislike. Now some books seem unaware of everything I just wrote. They essentially talk to kids in the literary equivalent of a voice high on babytalk. Those books aren’t hard to find (just grab the nearest one written by a celebrity). They’re also, alas, not hard to write. What is hard to write is the other kind of book. The kind that is fun for kids to read and doesn’t make them feel like the author thinks that they’re stupid. This is my roundabout way of saying that Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan must have been exceedingly difficult to write. Succinct and smart as a whip, it actually shows a kid pursuing their passion, even as their family members patronize their choices. And if that passion is watching the garbage truck arrive every Monday? Even better.

“Monday is the best day of the week (according to Mabel, at least).” After all, it’s on Monday that she gets to do the thing she loves most. Her older sister Mira thinks it’s the most boring thing. Her mom thinks it’s the cutest thing. Her dad thinks it’s the funniest thing. Does Mabel care? She does not. She brings a chair and a bowl of dry cereal. She sits down, eats, and waits. And then, at last, it’s here. “The best thing in the world is finally here!” The garbage truck! Not just any garbage truck either. This one has an arm that can grab the garbage can, lift it, dump the garbage into the back, and then crash the can back down. Mabel is content but everyone she knows missed it. You know who hasn’t missed it though? Other kids. Kids, just like Mabel, who wait every Monday for the best thing in the world.

Garbage truck love and small children isn’t exactly a new concept, but when you think of picture books that celebrate them, what do you think of? You think of Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman or I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullen. Great books, but they’re titles where the hero is either the garbageman himself or the truck. A book where the hero is a fan is quite a different thing altogether. While reading this book I went from trying to pair it with other garbage truck titles (which is relatively easy to do) to trying to pair it with other books in which a kid is a wholehearted fan of something. That turns out to be a lot harder to come up with. I mean, there are books where kids love something wholeheartedly (like this year’s I Love Blueberries by Shannon Anderson) but that’s not the same thing as being a fan. Mabel is a fan of the garbage truck and that’s part of what sets this book apart from its fellows. The child is the hero here. So much so that if you’ll notice, Awan never ever shows us the driver of the truck. That’s because Mabel isn’t a fan of garbagemen (though I’m sure she has nothing against them) but of the truck itself. Show the driver and you’d be getting back into Trashy Town territory, and we don’t need that.

To be frank, the whole reason this book works as well as it does is because of that singular focus on Mabel. She’s the smallest person in her house, but she has this one-track mind and purpose when it comes to celebrating the thing she loves. Her other family members might scoff or laugh but part of what’s so appealing about her is that she doesn’t let their opinions or words sway her in the least. Only when the garbage truck has passed does she spare them a thought, and even then it’s a kind of wistful amazement that they would willingly miss such a great sight. In a way, it’s the reader that’s Mabel’s closest companion here. You’re completely on her side, cheering alongside her, watching and waiting with her. What’s particularly great about all of this is that lest you worry that Mabel’s lonely in her fandom, the end of the book shows that whole host of other kids (and one grandpa) who also wait every Monday for the garbage truck to show. It just nails the ending like nothing else. You gotta respect a picture book author who knows how to stick the landing.

The writing is also worth noting. It didn’t take long for me to realize as I read this that book has all the hallmarks of a fantastic storytime readaloud (ideally on a Monday, if you can finagle it). I’ve already spoken with children’s librarians who have performed it live and they tell me that, yes, kids really love this book. And why not? First off, there’s the rule of threes at work. Mabel passes three family members and each one dismisses her in some way. Sometimes rude. Sometimes loving. Cleverly, Awan doesn’t tell you what Mabel’s up to. Yes, there’s a garbage truck on the cover, visible through the window, but that’s not where your eye goes first. Mabel is the clear focus, with the truck tucked was in the lower left-hand square of the picture window. In this way Awan is both revealing the secret of the book and hiding it in plain view. But I’m getting off point. The point is that when the truck does finally arrive the reveal comes with sounds first. “RRRRRRRRRRRRR!” “HONK HONK!” You do not see it. The focus remains squarely on Mabel’s face. You even get this close up of her, with the truck’s shadow falling on the garage door behind her (visible but not something you could identify on sight). Then you turn the page and there’s the truck in all its glory. Text surrounds it, highlighting its many fine features. “The engine roars! The lights flash! The hubcaps shine! The brakes squeak!” Then you turn the page again for the big moment. “IT GRABS THE TRASH CAN!” Oh man. I want to read this aloud to a group of kids SO BAD. This book begs to be vocalized for one and all to hear!

I will confess freely that previously I dropped the ball on creator Jashar Awan. For example, last year I somehow failed to pick up on the true delight that is the picture book Towed by Toad. Like Every Monday Mabel, that book is a picture book for your younger readers. It has simple language and bright colors and is so crisp and clear in what it’s saying and doing that you have to sort of step back in awe. It appears that Awan’s gift is his ability to simplify everything down to its most essential parts. That goes for his art as well as his writing. The art is digital, as it happens, but I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t read the publication page. It’s interesting to watch how Awan’s style changes from book to book too. As he showed in Strum & Drum, he’s perfectly capable of complexity if he wants to utilize it, but it’s the simplicity that’s part of why this book works as well as it does. It’s not his most simple book, but it’s up there. I spent a lot of time looking at how Awan uses squares as well as repeated colors (pink crops up in some really interesting ways on these pages) throughout the story to maximum effect.

Not every kid who picks up this book is going to be familiar with this particular kind of garbage truck. The truck in this book is the kind with an arm, capable of grabbing the garbage bins and tossing their contents into the back. We don’t really have those where I live, but no matter. Even if you’ve never seen that kind of truck a day of your life, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to understand why watching a machine grab and toss something as significant as garbage has loads of appeal. What’s important here is seeing a kid dedicate themselves to enjoying something, and that love flying in the face of their family’s inability to understand. The joy of this book is that it completely understands who its heroine is. Mabel is the focus. Mabel is the center. And Mabel’s enthusiasm is incredibly infectious. I suspect that many a child will start scouting out their own garbage truck observation posts after a read or two of this title. We should all be so lucky to find something in our lives that makes us as happy as the weekly visit of a garbage truck makes Mabel. It is, after all, “The best thing in the world,” to find your passion.

On shelves now.

Source: Checked out book from library for review.

Interviews: For sketches of this book and further information about its creation, check out this Q&A with Max’s Boat.

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2025, Review 2025, Reviews