The Night Worker

by Kate Banks, Georg Hallensleben (Illustrator)

Going to the job site with Dad

When darkness falls and bedtime comes, Papa tucks Alex in, then puts on his hard hat and goes to work. Papa is an engineer who works at night. "Take me with you," Alex says. "Not tonight," says Papa. But one night Papa has a surprise -- a hard hat for Alex! He takes Alex with him to the construction site, where excavators rumble and cement mixers hum. As his dream comes true, Alex gets to be a night worker just like Papa. Kate Banks's evocative text and Georg Hallensleben's colorful paintings combine to make a unique bedtime book that will delight all children, especially those who are fascinated by big machines.  The Night Worker is a 2001 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Genres: Picture Books, Construction, Childrens, Family, Kids, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2000

About the author

Kate Banks has written many books for children, among them Max’s Words, And If the Moon Could Talk, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and The Night Worker, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award. She grew up in Maine, where she and her two sisters and brother spent a lot of time outdoors, and where Banks developed an early love of reading. “I especially liked picture books,” she says, “and the way in which words and illustrations could create a whole new world in which sometimes real and other times magical and unexpected things could happen.” Banks attended Wellesley College and received her masters in history at Columbia University. She lived in Rome for eight years but now lives in the South of France with her husband and two sons, Peter Anton and Maximilian.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/katebanks

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good theme depicting the fact that crews on large construction projects work at night. I liked the darkness of the illustrations. I did not like the text saying a whistle blows and they take a break followed shortly thereafter by Alex and his Dad going home. Breaks and quitting time are two different things. OSHA has so many job site rules that I don’t believe a young child would get to visit this type of job site.

[Joanna Marple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night falls. Bedtime comes. Papa kisses Alex good night. Then he puts on his hard hat. He is an engineer. And he is a night worker. ”Take me with you,” whispers Alex. “Not tonight,” says Papa.

But one night Papa does indeed take Alex with him to work. On their way they pass others who work at night, like the police and street sweepers. They arrive at the construction site and together they watch the various machines and employees at work: the foreman, bulldozer, excavator, cement mixer, crane, loader… here it becomes really exciting as Alex is aloud up into the cab with the loader’s driver and gets to push the levers – Alex is a night worker too! After a night of excitement, Alex pulls off his hard hat and puts on his pajamas drifting quickly into daytime sleep dreaming of being a night worker!

Why I like this book: Georg Hallensleben has illustrated several of Kate’s books and it is a great collaborative team. He uses warm, melting, subtle night tones which marry so well with Kate’s lyrical text to create a welcoming milieu despite the dark of the night and noise and harshness of the machinery. Children will be readily engaged in this night time activity and it is a super introduction to the many workers who travail while we are asleep. Children who love construction sites will be in their element reading and watching the distinct tasks of each machine. I love how a bulldozer’s task becomes poetry in Kate’s mouth:

He points to a bulldozer leveling the ground.
Clouds rise from the dust as a steel shovel
pushes soil into a midnight mountain.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never seen or heard construction at night, but if it does happen or if it did happen this book probably described it well. What I liked about the picture book was that it showed how humans don't all live/work the same time schedule, and gave a bit of insight into some of the reasons. overall this is a very simple story with rudimentary illustrations. Kids who like cars and trucks would probably enjoy this. It could be used for storytime but also seems like a great bedtime story for caretakers.

[Jj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice change of pace from the usual going-to-work-with-parent trope, since it takes place at night...and, well, LOTS of parents go to work at night. Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben make great collaborators and this is one more nice example of that. I also have to give a shout-out to the Gaspard and Lisa Friends Forever character cameos near the beginning and end of the story--these are the sort of great little details I enjoy.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This smoothly written story of a boy visiting his father's night construction worksite lends itself to a soothing bedtime reading while still indulging in the child fascination for big construction equipment. (Little Alex even gets to ride in a loader and dump the bucket.) A nice father-child story, with attractive colorful illustrations and a dreamy ending. Refreshingly, some diversity-- it also seems that Alex and his family might be brown, possibly Hispanic.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know road construction occurs at night - Boy, do I know that road construction occurs at night! -- but I can't think of any examples where buildings would be constructed at night, so this book did feel like a bit of a reach to me. Still, some parents do work nights. Some parents do have jobs where the children would be safe visiting (*cough, cough -- not this one). And the illustrations are quite good.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

[Laree Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book. It is about a little boy named Alex, whose fathers works at night, as an egnineer. One night his father surpises him and takes him to work with him. Alex is so excited because he always wanted to go to work with his dad. I really think that students will find this book interesting and may even be able to relate to the text.

[Kathryn Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to relate to students that have parents that work at night. The book is about a little boy that wants to go to work with his father that works evenings doing construction. The little boy gets to go to work with his father and work along side and do the night shift as well. Great book to read on paretns day, or if planning a lesson about parents jobs.

[James Vickery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for students to undestand that not everyone's jobs takes place during the daylight. In this book a little boy's father goes to work as a construction worker after everyone else is at home in bed. This book is a great book for ELL students to relate to where many students families could be in the service industry or another industry where their parents work at night.

[Gretchen Geser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite picture books of all time. Because of "The Night Worker," I hope to read everything by Kate Banks, the author, and gaze intently at everything by Georg Hallensleben, the illustrator. This is a great book for little boys, but I read it countless times to my (formerly) little girl. May it never go out of print.

[Megan Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a different look on working which many children can relate to. A child might have a parent that has to work in the night time and the book shows that. The illustrations were great and they showed the relationship between the text well. I think children would like this story regardless if their parents work at night or not.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the art, it's oil like. I love the idea of the story, but essentially it is about an irresponsible father who takes his child, it seems without apparently his mother's knowledge, at night to operate heavy industrial machinery in a public space....might be a good story starter for a catastrophe!

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

At night, no one notices your violation of child labor laws.

With the sad economic realities facing modern families, it's understandable that Alex ends up accompanying his father to work. Childcare costs have spiraled out of control.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story telling of workers that I don’t think have their story told very often: night-shift workers. I liked that this was a story I hadn’t heard before, but it still includes all the construction vehicles that the kid I babysit loves.

[Natalie Aristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful all around. Some of the same lyricism Banks brought to "And if the Moon Could Talk."

[Partridge Public]

Banks, Kate K-1st

[Shayne Cope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be great for a child interested in construction. It seemed magical for Alex to get to go to the construction sight with his dad.

[Shannon Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud for my 1st graders.

[Francesca Pezzano · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was just ok. I do not like idea of bringing children to construction sites. This is just bad news. The theme was bad, but it was well written.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite construction story, but it works.

[CreateEveryday Classroom · Rating 5 out of 5]

withstands the tests of time. a classroom favorite any and every year. consistently requested.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex is a little boy whose father is an engineer who works at night. Alex wants to be a night worker, too, and one night his dad takes him to work with him. Lovely illustrations.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for kids who has a parent who works an unconventional shift.

[Beau Manglass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curtis has recently done the training to do night construction supervision with his work and been out a few nights, so it was lovely to come across this book about a young boy who admires his father, an engineer who supervises construction at night. I love the way this book balances a personal family story with a general reflection on and admiration of the world at night and those who participate in it.

[Ellice · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard for me to focus on the story in this picture book, as my brain kept drifting to how much of a liability it would be to have a child riding in an earth mover on an active construction site in the middle of the night. The illustrations also didn't convey "night" as much as they could have.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Banks Vault #18
Tale about kid seeing his dad work the night shift.
Interesting to see a book a bout night workers, and it could be utilised to discuss night workers and the different work they do whilst people sleep.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a sweet nostalgic read. I loved the use of figurative language throughout the book; it really elevated the language of the text.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute good vocabulary

[Aly Hetchler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique story. Particularly loved the illustration style.

[Joselyn Guizar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. This book reminded me a lot about my grandpa and I when he used to take me to work with him out in the fields picking cherries.