Night Shift

by Jessie Hartland

Late at night, when the owls are out, some people are awake-and doing all sorts of interesting things!

They are on the night shift.

Open this book, and you will discover the nighttime world of people who go to work when you are sleeping:

Street sweeper
Window dresser
Radio DJ
Security guard
Newspaper printer
Bridge painter
Zookeeper
Freighter captain
Truck driver
Road worker
Donut baker
Fisherman
Tug boat captain
Waitress

Come meet them all!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Transport

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Jessie Hartland is the author and illustrator many nonfiction titles for young readers, including Our Flag Was Still There, which was named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year. The New York Times praised her “joyful folk-art illustrations” in Harlem Grown, written by Tony Hillery. She has painted murals at a Japanese amusement park, designed Christmas windows for Bloomingdale’s, and put her mark on ceramics, watches, and all sorts of other things. She has done drawings for many magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Travel and Leisure Family Club, Martha Stewart Kids, and Bon Appétit. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Grady]

Starting with the street sweepers who drive by at 10 pm, this book follows a semi-random chain of night shift workers (disk jockey, art museum guard, bridge painter, donut baker, zookeeper, commercial fisherman, and others) through the wee hours of the morning until everybody gets off work and meets for breakfast at the diner. The illustrations are quirky and the text has a bunch of offbeat vocabulary words. It's been a big hit with our 3.5 year old (who likes odd words).

[Lindsey]

This is a fun picture books that shares some of the many things that go on around a city while people are sleeping. This picture book uses bold colors and large brush strokes to illustrate the busy scenes in the story. I enjoyed this story as it gives children an idea of what happens to the world outside while they are sleeping.

[Guadalupe]

I wanted to read this book again and again with my seven year old. It involves you in a guessing game as it describes different night workers on each double page spread. Fascinating artwork too!!

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*]

Hartland, Jessie Night Shift. PICTURE BOOK. Bloomsbury, 2007.

What is going on around the city while you are sleeping? All sorts of things - street sweeping, bridge painting, donut baking, window dressing to name a few. This book cleverly details the jobs of fourteen different night workers, and each description leads to the next topic through a clue in the illustration and a question in the lower right of the page spread. Adding to the fun of her quirky illustrations, Hartland makes sure to place at least one cat in each picture. Further unifying the book, each night-time job depicted is represented as fourteen workers gather at the end of the shift for refreshment and sociality at an all-night diner.

EL - ADVISABLE. Reviewer: Beverly Stout, Elementary Library Specialist.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2008/...

[Arnela]

The art is very simple and flowey and it emulates how kids usually draw and paint. It teaches kids about all the different kinds of city jobs people do at night. It was pretty fun for me to read, and for some reason kids really like hearing about jobs, so I'm pretty sure most kids will get a kick out of this.

[Selena]

14 different night shift jobs that people do while others are sound asleep. The night shift begins at 10 p.m and ends at 7 a.m. Everyone from the night shift meets at the 24-hour cafe for morning coffee, while their shift is just ending other peoples shifts are just beginning.

[Ray]

BL 3.7
0.5 pts

[Savannah Atwood]

This is a great book to discuss different careers. If a Parent had a night job this would be a good book to read to a child and explain the importance of night jobs.

[Amanda Geske]

“A kitty made of pickles, a topiary poodle, a mannequin dressed smartly with a wig of spinach noodles!”

[Jasmine Lawson]

This book teaches about all the jobs that are done at nighttime. In this book various different jobs are highlighted and explained

[Claire]

Interesting concept for kids but the stilted writing was distracting

[Shayla Giuliani]

Work doesn't stop at night.

[Grace Luedecke]

all the people working in the night, 4th grader style drawings

[Beau Manglass]

Another relabling read. Loved the concept of this one and the detailed, vocab-rich text helped me get sucked in.

[Matthew]

Kept a narrative thread as it navigated many different nightshift occupations. Fun for younger readers.

[Ashley Saunders]

Hartland, J. (2007) Night Shift. Bloomsbury U.S.A.

Booklist Starred Review

Choice

For children it can be difficult to image the world after they have gone to bed. This book takes readers through numerous jobs that can only occur after hours during the night shift. Some of these night jobs include street cleaners, security guards, and road workers. This is a great book to explain how jobs that may go overlooked are completed. I personally remember being a child and assuming that when I went to bed the world stopped and went to bed as well. I would use this book to help build the student's citizenship skills. I think it is very important for students to know about the important jobs that can go overlooked.

[Christy]

Late at night, when the owls are out, some people are awake-and doing all sorts of interesting things!

They are on the night shift.

Open this book, and you will discover the nighttime world of people who go to work when you are sleeping:

Street sweeper
Window dresser
Radio DJ
Security guard
Newspaper printer
Bridge painter
Zookeeper
Freighter captain
Truck driver
Road worker
Donut baker
Fisherman
Tug boat captain
Waitress

Come meet them all!

[Chad VanDosen]

This book shows the different types of things that go on during the night, but I think they could've done a better job. It was really long and not very interesting. I think children would get tired of it pretty quickly after the first few. There are just too many examples, and for some reason I just didn't like this book very much. I probably wouldn't have this book in my classroom unless I was an older elementary school teacher.

[Salsabrarian]

Introduces a great variety of jobs carried out at night, the mystery time when kids are asleep and unaware that the world is still going on out there. Jobs include radio DJ, tugboat captain, security guard and bridge painter. Also a good addition to those classroom units on communities/neighborhoods.

[jacky]

We saw this on Read Between the Lions (901). It was a cool book that explores all the jobs people do at night. The illustrations were nice, and the text rhymed. I liked how the different jobs flowed together.

[Sarah Threlkeld]

Starting at 10pm, the story showcases all sorts of jobs that occur at night, ending with the all-night diner waitress who serves coffee to all of the people who work the night shift. The illustrations are rich and the text is a good balance of information and humor. Good book for a unit on careers.

[Joshua]

A fun meandering look at night jobs around New York city. The best part are the little details in the art, like the DJ's stack of CDs, the ocelot on the freighter, the raccoon outside the house and the grumpy people in the car on the roadwork page.

[The Library Lady]

The colorful pictures with lots of details will interest younger preschoolers. The text is geared more towards older preschoolers and early elementary school age children.

[Candi]

Ages 4-7

[Nicole]

Great book to teach kids about different types of night jobs.

[Kelly]

Story is about different types of jobs that happen during the night while most of us are sleeping. It goes through each hour and how they contribute. Time and temperature are hit on in the story.

[Erin]

This book is fine for younger school age kids who want to know what happens at night. It's too long for a storytime for preschoolers.

[Danielle]

I like books that explore people's jobs for kids and especially this window into all the work that goes on while many of us sleep.

[Sarah Herrington]

I really enjoyed this book, as did my children. It describes different jobs that are done through the night. The illustrations are captivating and it was very informative.

[Abby Yoder]

Good way to get kids to see how the night is for their parents who work at night.