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What Are We Even Doing With Our Lives?: The Most Honest Children's Book of All Time
Named one of the best comedy books of 2017 by Splitsider.com In this a charming, satirical "children’s" book, BuzzFeed ’s lead animal editor and an acclaimed art director/illustrator poke fun at our contemporary, hyper-connected, and often mundane millennial age and the absurdities of the #blessed time and place in which we all now live. Welcome to "Digi Valley," the epitome of twenty-first-century urban life! The animal-people who call it home do cool life coach, cat landlord, baby DJ teacher, app developer, iPhone photographer, new media consultant, beauty blogger, and, of course, freelancer. On the street, in the coffee shop, at the farmer’s market, or the local vegan café, you’ll meet new friends like Frances and Sadie, Freelance Frank, Realtor Rick, and Bethany the Beauty Blogger as they bike, drive, bus, hoverboard, and Uber their way around town—or just sit and enjoy a latte while doing important things on their devices. Everybody in Digi Valley is very, very busy—texting, tweeting, video chatting, sending selfies, swiping for dates, and binging on their favorite shows. Whether you’re looking for a job at the latest media startup or want to publish your own web series, this urban mecca has something for everyone. And with the emotionally sensitive, tech-friendly Digi Valley Elementary School, it’s a great place to raise kids too! In What Are We Even Doing With Our Lives? Chelsea Marshall and Mary Dauterman have created an authentic fictional world that illuminates the funny, silly, earnest experience of millennial life. But watch out when the unthinkable happens—the internet goes down! Filled with dozens of illustrated spreads, What Are We Even Doing With Our Lives? is the most honest children’s book for all ages ever written . . . like seriously.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 8, 2017
415 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
April 5, 2018
For nostalgia, this should be read but everyone who grew up reading Richard Scarry. The illustration style is very similar. The contrast in what we taught our children in the 1960s - 1990s and today is not only quite telling on so many levels, but hilarious.
Written by a Dallas, Texas native born after Scarry's prime time and, more importantly, when technology was already expected in her daily life, the difference in beliefs and values is reflected.
One of those picture books that has little notes written all over the page that is pretty fun too take the time to almost hide and seek. Detailed pictures; will probably find something new every time you look at it- from a different angle, in a different lighting environment, in a different state of mind, in a different frame of reference.
The statement is clear and true. We do many things that make little sense. The sooner we confess it to ourselves, the sooner we can do something about bringing back old school values. Or not. We will all laugh about it, then write a GoodReads review, Tweet a status update, Instagram ourselves holding it up, and then immediately go back to our organic lunches and playing a game.
Written by a Dallas, Texas native born after Scarry's prime time and, more importantly, when technology was already expected in her daily life, the difference in beliefs and values is reflected.
One of those picture books that has little notes written all over the page that is pretty fun too take the time to almost hide and seek. Detailed pictures; will probably find something new every time you look at it- from a different angle, in a different lighting environment, in a different state of mind, in a different frame of reference.
The statement is clear and true. We do many things that make little sense. The sooner we confess it to ourselves, the sooner we can do something about bringing back old school values. Or not. We will all laugh about it, then write a GoodReads review, Tweet a status update, Instagram ourselves holding it up, and then immediately go back to our organic lunches and playing a game.
August 1, 2017
A note for the FCC: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not sure I am the intended audience for this book - maybe it would appeal more to folks who have lived in Silicon Valley? The book seems intended to be a parody of Richard Scarry's Busytown, where the pages are full of hustle and bustle and labels of various things. The problem, though, is that the illustrations aren't quite Scarry-quality, and the labels of objects/people on the page aren't very consistent. On some pages, they feel like an afterthought - like the main text was written and someone suddenly realized, "Oh, we should label something on this page to make it consistent with the rest of the book."
The tone of the main text also seems to shift in the audience it's addressing - it seems aimed at a younger audience in some places, then back at adults in others. It's definitely cynical, but without enough self-awareness or irony to really be funny. There was one description that made me laugh, but I can't remember it now (which isn't a great sign).
I'm going to have to pass it along to a friend of mine who lived in LA for several years to see if she finds it any more amusing than I did.
I'm not sure I am the intended audience for this book - maybe it would appeal more to folks who have lived in Silicon Valley? The book seems intended to be a parody of Richard Scarry's Busytown, where the pages are full of hustle and bustle and labels of various things. The problem, though, is that the illustrations aren't quite Scarry-quality, and the labels of objects/people on the page aren't very consistent. On some pages, they feel like an afterthought - like the main text was written and someone suddenly realized, "Oh, we should label something on this page to make it consistent with the rest of the book."
The tone of the main text also seems to shift in the audience it's addressing - it seems aimed at a younger audience in some places, then back at adults in others. It's definitely cynical, but without enough self-awareness or irony to really be funny. There was one description that made me laugh, but I can't remember it now (which isn't a great sign).
I'm going to have to pass it along to a friend of mine who lived in LA for several years to see if she finds it any more amusing than I did.
August 24, 2017
Great book to read to your kids until they understand what you are saying.
September 12, 2017
A short, satirical take on the world (western) we live by true to the title. There is no judgemental take here. Just an as-is projection of the current world set in an imaginary world lived by animal people. Liked the cartoons & interesting names for the companies, chains & everyday situations. I bet anyone who has lived in a big city can relate to at least one of the characters. A leisurely read but very thoughtful in the presentation & theme.
July 27, 2017
Boringly cynical. No substance, no originality, no plot. Just endless complaints about millennials and city life, bizarrely made by a relatively young author. After reading it, I asked myself what I was doing with my life. The answer: far better things than whoever wrote this book.
July 27, 2017
THIS MIGHT BE A CHILDRENS BOOK BUT IT ALSO HAS A POWERFUL LESSON
July 28, 2017
#blessed to win this book. A must read for the millennial hipster who faces these heinous first world problems, daily. From manspreading to ingrown hairs, the list of complaints goes on.
September 17, 2017
I found "What Are We Even Doing With Our Lives?" to be an interesting that I'm not sure I would say its just a children's book, but also meant for the millennials as there are many lessons throughout the book. I enjoyed it but would say you should read it before handing it to the younger children. I won this great book on GoodReads and like I do with most my wins I will be paying it forward by giving my win either to a friend or library to enjoy.
August 30, 2017
A funny take on living in NYC; specifically Brooklyn.
October 26, 2017
I must confess, I expected a bit more from this book. I was drawn to its similarity to a Sesame Street book I remember reading to my daughter, where a collection of animal people lived in a town and went about their lives in the ancient old days of 1990. And it does provide an updated version of that book, Digi Valley being a place unimaginable back in 1990 yet looking on the surface, so similar.
The life depicted seemed so thin, however, where the Sesame Street life had been so vibrant.
Maybe that was part of the message.
After reading, another book came to mind: This Year's Girl by Sally Edelstien.
Both books were written by young women early in adulthood who appear to be attempting to look at life and determine where they fit in. Both books do this via the use of images of small details from the often present potted succulent in What are We Even Doing... to a package of Twinkies in This Year's Girl.
Yet while This Year's Girl includes a rich depiction of the past that created the Girl, the past is nonexistent in What are We Even Doing... and that sort of makes sense. In a world dependent on technology any far less technological time, well it could be almost as if it didn't exist.
One can't help but wonder though, were there things that fill the pasts of modern young people as richly as did the things drawn in This Year's Girl?
Also interesting to note that the people in What are We Even Doing... don't really know what they are supposed to be doing. While This Year's Girl points out that the 1950's Girl definitely knew what she was supposed to be doing (wife and mother) and the 1985 girl was a bit confused because she had thought wife and mother would be her role too, when she was a child, but that was no longer the plan. Yet the 1985 girl does have a plan--now she is supposed to be her mother AND her father.
Perhaps it was the impossibility of being mom AND dad that has led the present generation of young people to realize plans don't work. And if that means they don't even know what they are doing with their lives, so be it.
The life depicted seemed so thin, however, where the Sesame Street life had been so vibrant.
Maybe that was part of the message.
After reading, another book came to mind: This Year's Girl by Sally Edelstien.
Both books were written by young women early in adulthood who appear to be attempting to look at life and determine where they fit in. Both books do this via the use of images of small details from the often present potted succulent in What are We Even Doing... to a package of Twinkies in This Year's Girl.
Yet while This Year's Girl includes a rich depiction of the past that created the Girl, the past is nonexistent in What are We Even Doing... and that sort of makes sense. In a world dependent on technology any far less technological time, well it could be almost as if it didn't exist.
One can't help but wonder though, were there things that fill the pasts of modern young people as richly as did the things drawn in This Year's Girl?
Also interesting to note that the people in What are We Even Doing... don't really know what they are supposed to be doing. While This Year's Girl points out that the 1950's Girl definitely knew what she was supposed to be doing (wife and mother) and the 1985 girl was a bit confused because she had thought wife and mother would be her role too, when she was a child, but that was no longer the plan. Yet the 1985 girl does have a plan--now she is supposed to be her mother AND her father.
Perhaps it was the impossibility of being mom AND dad that has led the present generation of young people to realize plans don't work. And if that means they don't even know what they are doing with their lives, so be it.
January 8, 2018
The author and illustrator really want you to know they're "not like all the other millennials." I'm all for poking fun at myself, and I love satire, but this just felt stale and a little too late. It might have been amusing a few years ago (but probably not). And I'm real tired of people making fun of majoring in the arts and then being broke. Let's make fun of the system a bit more, and those trapped in it a bit less, maybe?
December 16, 2020
This should have been funny. I hardly laughed. It's a supposed to be an homage and parody of Richard Scarry's Busytown books which I adore but the illustrations are terrible and done lazily and haphazard. I feel like it's supposed to be a biting commentary on 21st century life as people seem to be more concerned with and controlled by their phones and social media but the bite wasn't a vicious as I would have liked. Overall, disappointing.
May 1, 2022
A little humor, a lot of truth, and funny illustrations. This book is pure honesty. It touches on our obsessions with technology and organics, and even our swipe left dating philosophy. And if I'm as honest as the book, I have to admit that you will likely find a page inside that hits close to home. If you never asked the question "What are we even doing with our lives?", you may finally find yourself doing so when you finish reading this book.
January 6, 2018
More of a coffee table book than an actual adult "picture book" as it was described, this book will age too fast. Some pertinent commentary and observations (sometimes even cutting ones) into today's hectic, technology- and debt-ridden society, all disguised as a Richard Scarry parody. The concept was great, but sadly the reality of the book fell short.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2017
Kind of seems just like another cynical book aiming at easy targets.
It seems to put itself forward as "a scathing summary of modern life" when really it comes across as a woeful example of what is considered original and edgy, that is, ironically using hashtags and alluding to things like the gender wage gap.
It seems to put itself forward as "a scathing summary of modern life" when really it comes across as a woeful example of what is considered original and edgy, that is, ironically using hashtags and alluding to things like the gender wage gap.
December 24, 2017
This probably isn't really a 5 star. I imagine if I read it at a different moment in time and in my life I would not find so many of the jokes landing so well.
But this is now, and I found this gave me quite a few laughs, and I look forward to sharing it with a few people while the time is right.
But this is now, and I found this gave me quite a few laughs, and I look forward to sharing it with a few people while the time is right.
March 8, 2024
While not hysterically funny, this book IS cute funny.
People who grew up reading (and looking at the busy pages of) Richard Scarry books will be pleasantly amused by the cynical nature of how we live today.
People who didn’t read Richard Scarry will post not-so-great reviews because the book went right over there heads.
3 1/2 stars
It’s an easy read.
People who grew up reading (and looking at the busy pages of) Richard Scarry books will be pleasantly amused by the cynical nature of how we live today.
People who didn’t read Richard Scarry will post not-so-great reviews because the book went right over there heads.
3 1/2 stars
It’s an easy read.
July 31, 2017
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I enjoyed this book. It's snarky & realistic. I've been in many of the situations described in the book, which made it even funnier.
Thank you for sharing this book with me.
I enjoyed this book. It's snarky & realistic. I've been in many of the situations described in the book, which made it even funnier.
Thank you for sharing this book with me.
August 26, 2017
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review...
This not-quite children's book is hilarious, charming, delightful, and a very entertaining read. Strongly suggested to read through it first before handing it off to your children.
This not-quite children's book is hilarious, charming, delightful, and a very entertaining read. Strongly suggested to read through it first before handing it off to your children.
October 7, 2017
This book is modeled on the classic Richard Scary children's books, but is made for adults with a sense of humor. It was a great way to reflect on how ridiculous society is and get a laugh at the same time.
August 19, 2018
I originally labeled this book as a children's book, but soon realized this is a hilarious (and so true) look at today's society. This is more of a commentary on millenials and the changing environment - living, work, and life in general.
September 10, 2018
Stupid book. The illustrations (including the odd captions) were mildly amusing. But there was a vapid plot that went nowhere, didn't make much sense or say much of anything. There was potential for humor and sarcastic commentary, and yet they just drifted along without digging in.
December 11, 2018
Did I write this book and forget about it? It's such a perfect jab at urban millenial life. Loved it. If you decide to read it, give yourself a treat and make sure to read all the captions of the objects. I giggled at them a lot.
September 27, 2017
No, it's not a children's book. Yes, it's satire. Yes, it's a takeoff of the Richard Scarry Busytown books, and yes, it's a hoot.
October 6, 2017
Satirical version of Richard Scarry that discusses hipsters and social media. Hat tip to the inclusion of the gender pay gap and the impossibility of being a female politician.
October 9, 2017
Bojack Horseman meets Jomny Sun - some of the satire's bite gets lost in the twee illustration, but still induces a good chuckle and some reflection.
November 5, 2017
Funny book making fun of yuppies/hipsters, which seems like a hipster thing to do.
November 5, 2017
Really funny skewering of all things Hip and Millennial using a pretty spot-on parody of Richard Scarry and Mo Willems' illustration/writing style.
November 26, 2017
Absolutely hilarious, but scary real.
December 15, 2017
freaking realistic to the life in SF that I laughed a couple times
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews