I love asking my kids each year what they want to be when they grow up. Why? Because their answer changes almost each year. Hey throughout my adult life my answers have changed several times as well, and that's okay! It shows that you keep trying on new shoes until you find one that fits, and as you grow as a person you might outgrow that one shoe. It's so much fun to look back on their responses over the years and your own as well.
One book that really brings this point of always growing and doing more than just one job is:
When I Grow Up
Written by Al Yankovic
Illustrated by Wes Hargis
I love the imagination in this book!
This little boy Billy is bursting at the seams to tell the class what he wants to be when he grows up. He gets up and rattles off the best speech about becoming a world renowned chef! Now that one passage is great but when the teacher calls the next kid, Billy quickly lets her know he's not even close to done. He proceeds to list off several other creative jobs from gorilla masseuse to TV repairman to snail trainer. As you can imagine not all the jobs on there are "real" jobs, and the teacher is getting tired of his list so she finally ask him to pick one. His response to her is simply brilliant! He tells how many jobs his great-grandfather had and still doesn't know what he wants to be, and then goes on to say that if he leaves his options open, he could do all of those crazy things and more. On the very last page Billy pictures himself as a teacher.
There is so much to love in this book! The story-line is fantastic and really makes you question why do we say you can only become one thing? It lets you know not to put weight on your child when they say they want to become a famous football player, that can change several times, maybe they will become that but let them explore all that interest them.
Al Yankovic has an imagination that is up there with Dr. Seuss! I love how creative and out of the ordinary the jobs were. I love that he made the mundane sound fun. The rich vocabulary in this makes it a book that several grade levels should be reading to enhance their English Language Arts class. Look at this sentence which is a paragraph:
"Or else maybe I'll be the lathe operator who makes the hydraulic torque wrench calibrator which fine-tunes the wrench that's specifically made to retighten the nuts on the lateral blade that's directly beneath the main radial sockets inside cooling systems on X-14 rockets - and since this profession's as cool as can be, well, who would be better to do it than me?"Wow! Take a moment to look at all the vocab words that can be gone over:
- lathe
- hydraulic
- torque
- calibrator
- specifically
- lateral
- radial
- sockets
This is just off of one page! Those are some big words for a book that's aimed for 4-8 year olds! Please go ask a 13 year old to tell you what a hydraulic is and to explain a cooling system. Now looking at the parts of a sentence I'm sure my 7th grade grammar teacher would have loved to have us diagram this.
If you are a teacher and asking your class "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would suggest using this book one day that week and having an "crazy jobs" and encourage your children to think outside the box, what type of crazy job would they want? When my family went to an amusement park this summer we had fun asking what job they thought was the best or they'd want to have if they worked there. My oldest got really excited over maybe when she turns 16 she could get a summer job there. She thought cooking the food would be the best.
Adults, this gives you a chance to talk about all the different jobs you've had since childhood. Share them with your kids, share your dreams and goals. If you're still figuring out what you want to be, that's perfectly fine! There are many of us who are still figuring that out or want to be so many things. Are you ever just one thing? I know I'm not. I'm a full time Mom, full time teacher to my one daughter who is doing cyber school now, and an aspiring writer. I'm also suppose to be a part time substitute teacher but still trying to figure out how to fit that in and I'm not sure I can.
Go read this wonderful book. Laugh, Think, Dream, and Talk!
Another book I love and recently bought is Girls A-Z
Written by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Suzanne Bloom
As stated in the title, this book is only about girls. It's a very powerful, early feminist book that shows how women can do whatever they can dream up. I think it's a wonderful book for any daughter and that's why I bought it and put it in my collection for my girls.
With the question we've been asking this post, this book dives into not only "girl" jobs, but all jobs that girls can dream of. Sure there's a ballerina (which this year is what my youngest wants to be) but there's also an engineer, and race car driver. Our jobs are not segregated by sex, and we shouldn't tell our kids that just because they are a boy or girl that they can't do a job. My oldest wants to be a tattoo artist (this is not listed in the book) but my point is that that use to be a male dominated field, there are many talented women tattoo artist today. I think that would be amazing to see her to aspire to be the next Kat Von D. Go check out this article about Ten extraordinary women in male dominated fields
As you can gather from the title it is one of the books that walk you through the alphabet. What I love about this is how Eve Bunting found not only a unique girls name for each letter but a profession for each as well. Personally I love that stay at home mom was included in the list of professions because this is often over looked, or dismissed when really it's a full time job that we don't get a break from.
Aside from all the jobs what really makes this book great (for me) are Suzanne Bloom's colorful illustrations. I love how she didn't make the illustrations adults doing these jobs, but she drew these little girls doing the things they are interested in. It's so cute and relateable for kids. The dentist for the letter D, this little girl has her stuffed animal in a high chair with his mouth open and toothbrush in hand. This is how children act out jobs they find interesting. My tattoo artist, not only draws on paper but loves to use washable markers to give "real" tattoos! I think the imagination and spirit of these girls are captured in Suzanne Bloom's illustrations. They are contagious! Each child looks like they are having so much fun and their personality shines through. Look at the images and see if you can see your child in any of them.
The last book I have for you is aimed more at the preschool group but I love how this book was composed.
Think Big
Written by Liz Garton Scanlon
Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton
While reading this you have to not only read the words but make sure you and your child study the pictures because unlike the other two books I shared with you this one doesn't outright say what the job is. You see children painting, dancing, playing instruments, and sewing, and the only words that go with it are simple "Thick paint" "Spin, twirl". It's not until the end that this story really comes together and you see what all these kids have been working on is a performance of what they want to be when they grow up. It's really cute. The art work is fun, colorful and entertaining.
I love how you can ask children what they are doing and have them describe what they see. Then use this to have them tell you what they like to do and what they can do with that skill. "I like to color, I can become an illustrator!" Or after you finish the book go back and talk about what each skill they are showing can be applied to jobs.
For some fun at home, or in the classroom check out these kits and supplies to help your child pretend and imagine doing their dream job.
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