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Work: An Occupational ABC
An alphabetical tour through the coolest jobs you can imagine―and some you might never have heard of! With a sophisticated, minimalist design and visual jokes to interpret on every page, An Occupational ABC introduces children both to the alphabet and to a range of alternative careers. The ideal reader for this book is the child (or adult) who is interested in exploring all manner of professions through original and inspired illustrations. Must be open to adventure. Knowledge of the alphabet is desirable but not required, since successful applicants will receive training from A to Z.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published August 12, 2014
1 person is currently reading
81 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
September 12, 2017
Check out more picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...
An A to Z tour through all manner of different work available to a person.
I was drawn right off to the cover with its minimalist design and clean graphic style. My nephew LOVES to draw and we read a book together and he chooses a page to draw for himself! This has worked well for us through many book. I like to pick out books with simple aesthetics for days he struggles so this was perfect in that sense...
There were basically just the titles of the jobs... so NO WORDS (or very few, 26 to be exact). This defeats the point of reading with him to a point. Except the words were so odd and out there that he only knew 2 of them... So I used this as an opportunity for him to practice sounding out words. It worked well.
As we read and my nephew sounded out these odd professions I realized that this was not a serious book about potential careers. There were some out there jobs and even though there were women portrayed A LOT I felt like they were all manly jobs... I think that's great in a way because yeah we need to break down boundaries and all that jazz but it's so impractical to read with a child. My nephew found it hard to relate to since all the figures were women and to be honest there was NOT A SINGLE JOB I WOULD WANT TO DO (well, except for the K-9 Officer!)
Overcoming all the oddities about this book is the GORGEOUS ART!! These are MY KIND OF ILLUSTRATIONS! I feel like the book is just too beautiful. Adults would love this book, especially if their profession is portrayed in the book. The art is clean the backgrounds are perfect. I LOVE how the letter is prominent in the landscape... The best illustration is the Vibraphonist and the Wedding Singer spread with two African Americans!! The movement and the beauty... not to mention the diversity...
BOTTOM LINE: An odd boy's list of jobs setup for a girl reader...
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
An A to Z tour through all manner of different work available to a person.
I was drawn right off to the cover with its minimalist design and clean graphic style. My nephew LOVES to draw and we read a book together and he chooses a page to draw for himself! This has worked well for us through many book. I like to pick out books with simple aesthetics for days he struggles so this was perfect in that sense...
There were basically just the titles of the jobs... so NO WORDS (or very few, 26 to be exact). This defeats the point of reading with him to a point. Except the words were so odd and out there that he only knew 2 of them... So I used this as an opportunity for him to practice sounding out words. It worked well.
As we read and my nephew sounded out these odd professions I realized that this was not a serious book about potential careers. There were some out there jobs and even though there were women portrayed A LOT I felt like they were all manly jobs... I think that's great in a way because yeah we need to break down boundaries and all that jazz but it's so impractical to read with a child. My nephew found it hard to relate to since all the figures were women and to be honest there was NOT A SINGLE JOB I WOULD WANT TO DO (well, except for the K-9 Officer!)
Overcoming all the oddities about this book is the GORGEOUS ART!! These are MY KIND OF ILLUSTRATIONS! I feel like the book is just too beautiful. Adults would love this book, especially if their profession is portrayed in the book. The art is clean the backgrounds are perfect. I LOVE how the letter is prominent in the landscape... The best illustration is the Vibraphonist and the Wedding Singer spread with two African Americans!! The movement and the beauty... not to mention the diversity...
BOTTOM LINE: An odd boy's list of jobs setup for a girl reader...
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
July 4, 2024
Every alphabet book provides a tour of sorts. This one is highly pictorial, with lively-and-stylish illustrations, visual puns, and the like.
Between these covers you'll take a quirky alphabetical tour through jobs. Granted, the versions presented of various occupations are mainly whimsical. If you have a visual sense of humor, you might find them hilarious. If you'd prefer that your child never settle upon any career at all, this book might prove helpful.
For example, what's on the page devoted to the occupation of POSTAL WORKER?
A female postal worker is carrying the mail. No delivery truck.
That works, because the background is mostly white, so there is no road to drive on. Nor is there any house number for mail delivery, let alone any nearby house. The background is flat white, strewn with tiny, abstract, colorful shapes. Some green horizontal squiggles delineate plants on the ground.
While other squiggles, similar in shape and color, slightly smaller, represent clouds. I guess.
The postal worker's body is oddy shaped, and lacks normal human proportions, such as wearing impossibly tiny shoes and exceptionally long ankle socks.
The postal worker carries a mailbag with ordinary-sized letters, but she is busy delivering a large letter P.
By large I mean at least twice the length of her body and three times the width of her body.
The delivery object, that surreally large letter P, bears one stamp. Plus a cancellation mark, to show this delivery has been officially postmarked.
In honor of readers who would enjoy this book, the intended readers, FIVE STARS.
Personally, I'm just relieved that, for me, the ordeal of encountering so much self-conscious visual cleverness... is now over.
Between these covers you'll take a quirky alphabetical tour through jobs. Granted, the versions presented of various occupations are mainly whimsical. If you have a visual sense of humor, you might find them hilarious. If you'd prefer that your child never settle upon any career at all, this book might prove helpful.
For example, what's on the page devoted to the occupation of POSTAL WORKER?
A female postal worker is carrying the mail. No delivery truck.
That works, because the background is mostly white, so there is no road to drive on. Nor is there any house number for mail delivery, let alone any nearby house. The background is flat white, strewn with tiny, abstract, colorful shapes. Some green horizontal squiggles delineate plants on the ground.
While other squiggles, similar in shape and color, slightly smaller, represent clouds. I guess.
The postal worker's body is oddy shaped, and lacks normal human proportions, such as wearing impossibly tiny shoes and exceptionally long ankle socks.
The postal worker carries a mailbag with ordinary-sized letters, but she is busy delivering a large letter P.
By large I mean at least twice the length of her body and three times the width of her body.
The delivery object, that surreally large letter P, bears one stamp. Plus a cancellation mark, to show this delivery has been officially postmarked.
In honor of readers who would enjoy this book, the intended readers, FIVE STARS.
Personally, I'm just relieved that, for me, the ordeal of encountering so much self-conscious visual cleverness... is now over.
December 24, 2016
Great concept but flawed execution. Some of the occupations are really hobbies. Some are a real stretch. Xenologist? Vibraphonist? But the main issue with this alphabet book is the lack of definitions for the jobs listed. Even the "Want Ads" in the back of the book are full of puns, but lack any actual job descriptions.
To compound this confusion, the illustrations don't always provide enough visual clues to clarify what the occupations are. For example, the K-9 Officer doesn't wear a police uniform. The Umpire page contains three people: a batter, a catcher, and an umpire - and doesn't specify which is the umpire. The Ringmaster stares at a caravan of animal cages, but how is his job different from the Zookeeper?
Unfortunately, this alphabet book of occupations misses the mark.
To compound this confusion, the illustrations don't always provide enough visual clues to clarify what the occupations are. For example, the K-9 Officer doesn't wear a police uniform. The Umpire page contains three people: a batter, a catcher, and an umpire - and doesn't specify which is the umpire. The Ringmaster stares at a caravan of animal cages, but how is his job different from the Zookeeper?
Unfortunately, this alphabet book of occupations misses the mark.
March 11, 2018
copyright:2014
Number of pages: Unknown
Format: Hardcover
reading level: Ages 3-7
genre: ABC book
Lit. requirement: ABC #1
Summary:
With simple pictures this book goes through jobs that start with a letter of the alphabet. Most are jobs that children do not think about for example C is for Cyclist is one and another is H for Horticulturalist. Most of the jobs are little known jobs or uncommon jobs. At the end of the book are ads for the various jobs.
Response:
I love this book because of the various jobs it goes into and with so much variety. I love the ad descriptions in the back. Some of the jobs are long or little known so some of the words are words that children will need help to say. I would recommend this book.
Number of pages: Unknown
Format: Hardcover
reading level: Ages 3-7
genre: ABC book
Lit. requirement: ABC #1
Summary:
With simple pictures this book goes through jobs that start with a letter of the alphabet. Most are jobs that children do not think about for example C is for Cyclist is one and another is H for Horticulturalist. Most of the jobs are little known jobs or uncommon jobs. At the end of the book are ads for the various jobs.
Response:
I love this book because of the various jobs it goes into and with so much variety. I love the ad descriptions in the back. Some of the jobs are long or little known so some of the words are words that children will need help to say. I would recommend this book.
February 20, 2019
I was not a big fan of this minimalist modern art style before reading this book, and I'm still not. I loved the concept, and the multiculturalism of it. There are various ethnicities represented, non-traditional occupations listed (Yogi was my favorite!), and the breaking of gender barriers as well (the arctic explorer was meant to look female). Overall, a great addition to an abecedarian collection!
June 24, 2021
I love the illustrations. My first impression was "wow, some of these aren't really jobs," and "were these the best things they could pick?" But my second impression was, look- this is a book for reading and talking about what words mean. And encouraging kids to guess, based on the context of the illustrations. Also, who wants an ABC book where X is always X-ray? It did a good job.
September 14, 2017
I love the illustrations in this one and it will add some new words to the kids vocabulary.
November 25, 2017
enjoyed the art but I don't see this working as a book for children
2 stars plus 1 star for the puns at the end
2 stars plus 1 star for the puns at the end
March 11, 2019
Nice illustrations, but I wanted better explanations of the jobs, and not just a pun-filled one-liner want ad.
August 14, 2022
Seriously loved this book!
February 23, 2023
Not much to it, but it's amusing and the art is fun.
March 11, 2025
Nice big letters that H can identify. Jobs didn't quite register but they're young. A nice variety, if inventive with nice colorblock illustrations.
June 2, 2015
From A to Z we explore the many alternative occupations that are available to us as careers! We tell our children they can be anything we want to be so it is important we teach them about these jobs, all while being introduced to the alphabet! There are some really cool jobs out there, in fact! Forest ranger! Horticulturalist! Wedding singer! Ringmaster! Oceanographer! Yogi! And so many more! So depending on where your interests lie, this book may help you find the job for you!
This is a great book to read to your child to teach them, beyond doctor, lawyer, veterinarian and all the typical jobs they learn about in school, some of the great careers that are out there that they might like to study and work towards one day! We tell children to follow their dreams but sometimes they don’t know just how many options are out there for them to pursue! I love that the back glossary is a “wanted” ad. I appreciate all the different jobs that are listed, many of which are atypical and you will have to consult the glossary at the back to help explain to these growing minds what the job entails. This is a great conversation starter between you and your child and a great book where they will have fun reading, but learn more than they expected too!
Read more at www.diapers-and-daydreams.com !
This is a great book to read to your child to teach them, beyond doctor, lawyer, veterinarian and all the typical jobs they learn about in school, some of the great careers that are out there that they might like to study and work towards one day! We tell children to follow their dreams but sometimes they don’t know just how many options are out there for them to pursue! I love that the back glossary is a “wanted” ad. I appreciate all the different jobs that are listed, many of which are atypical and you will have to consult the glossary at the back to help explain to these growing minds what the job entails. This is a great conversation starter between you and your child and a great book where they will have fun reading, but learn more than they expected too!
Read more at www.diapers-and-daydreams.com !
June 9, 2014
Lively, action-filled digital illustrations, created from hand-drawn patterns and textures, highlight various possible jobs. What I enjoyed about this ABC book is the exploration of less-than-traditional careers, ranging from aviator to ice cream vendor to tailor to zookeeper. Each of the illustrations contains visual humor to enhance readers' enjoyment of the title; for instance, for aviator, a pilot flies across a series of mountain ranges while geese flap along in her wake and for grocer, a man attempts to balance a precarious stack of yummy fruits.
Read
October 22, 2014
WORK: AN OCCUPATIONAL ABC
by Kellen Hatanaka was brought to my attention by Lauren, one of my local librarians. She was impressed by the artwork and thought I would be, too :) This very fresh take on the alphabet is very cleverly executed, using common and unusual occupations to carry the reader from A to Z. The artwork is very crisp and graphic, looking just as fresh as this new approach. It's definitely worth a look-see! :)
October 14, 2015
The diversity of the professions is refreshing. This alphabetical tour is sure to open the minds of children and parents everywhere. Don't we have enough doctors and lawyers in the world? But there's also nothing wrong if your kid is naturally inclined to working on surgical sutures, or has a brilliant defence in favour of getting out of doing chores.
Full review: http://sukasareads.blogspot.com/2015/...
Full review: http://sukasareads.blogspot.com/2015/...
April 20, 2017
We didn't NEED another ABC book, but this one is so charming with non-traditional occupations, bodies of all shapes, genders and sizes and amazingly sweet illustration style. The people actually look like real people (of all sizes) and the women have all kinds of jobs (important to us in a two-working-moms house). There's some sly humor here as well and the 'want ads' at the back are a riot. One of my recent favorites.
December 5, 2014
An alphabet book where each letter is represented by a different occupation or job.
I love the creativity and the approach to this alphabet book. I like the inclusion of jobs that will likely need some explaining when shared with a child and I love the witty one-liner inspired descriptions of each of the 26 jobs.
Digital artwork. Highly recommended for PreK-2.
I love the creativity and the approach to this alphabet book. I like the inclusion of jobs that will likely need some explaining when shared with a child and I love the witty one-liner inspired descriptions of each of the 26 jobs.
Digital artwork. Highly recommended for PreK-2.
March 14, 2015
A nontraditional alphabet book, this text highlights some nontraditional occupations: yogi, horticulturalist, naval architect. An unexpected highlight, the illustrator crosses gender stereotypes by using men and women equally in surprising ways: the yogi is a man and the naval architect is female. Some of the body shapes and positions are awkward. Overall, the book was ok.
June 17, 2016
Fun to look at! No narrative, really, but great illustrations and brief descriptions of each career (i.e. Xenologist, ringmaster, vibraphonist). Diverse portrayals (including something extraterrestrial)
July 28, 2014
From Ali:
***
From Dot:
***
***
From Dot:
***
July 5, 2014
A fun, whimsical, alphabetical tour of all sorts of cool jobs.
August 22, 2014
beautiful illustrations but, the intended audience (age 4 and 5) were lost half the time.
September 3, 2014
There is lots to like about this book. The illustrations are crisp and modern. The occupations are unexpected. The people are all different colors. I <3 it!
October 21, 2014
Such a clever book. Beautiful illustrations too!
December 4, 2014
Interesting abc book with diversity of occupations and individuals. Great for conversations with learners of all ages.
December 16, 2014
a great abc book on different occupations (and very diverse!)
January 29, 2015
Cool way to learn vocab and I loved all the jobs were shown outdoors.
February 3, 2015
Introduces the alphabet with artwork that depicts a range of careers, from aviator to zookeeper.
February 19, 2015
GREAT illustrations, lots of visual jokes on almost every page. Another childrens book that is a delight to read as an adult
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews