School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-In three previous books, Mrs. Madoff's class celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving and participated in show-and-tell. Now, the children are introducing their family's careers to their classmates. One mother is a judge, a grandmother is the school crossing guard, and the teacher's husband is a paleontologist. A father is a construction worker, a mom is a nurse, and another mother is a veterinarian. Each profession is depicted on a double-page spread; a page showing the curious child with the family member is opposite a full-page picture of the contented adult at work. The text is written in a large font, which makes it easy to read, and the colorful pictures are equally appealing. Useful for units on careers and community helpers.-Wendy S. Carroll, Montclair Cooperative School, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2000)

Both young students and their teachers introduce special guests on Career Day. One by one, the reader meets parents and friends representing a wide range of occupations: bulldozer operator, musician, veterinarian, garbage collector, paleontologist, and more. The illustrations offer a helpful glimpse of the workers engaged in their professions.

ALA Booklist (Mon May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2000)

From the ongoing series about Mrs. Madoff's classroom, including Halloween Day (1997), Show and Tell Day (1997), and Thanksgiving Day (1999), this brightly illustrated picture book features Pablo telling about Career Day. Each of the 10 children introduces a parent or grandparent, who demonstrates or talks about his or her occupation: construction worker, judge, musician, picture-book author-illustrator, crossing guard, sanitation truck driver, and so on. Each spread is devoted to one child and visitor, with a picture and the text on the left-hand page and a large picture of the adult at work on the right. The story ends with the children at play in their classroom, where they pretend to work at the jobs that appeal to them. Clearly laid out and cheerfully presented, this picture book strikes just the right tone for its intended audience. (Reviewed May 1, 2000)

Kirkus Reviews

The mother-daughter team of Anne and Lizzy Rockwell ( Thanksgiving Day , 1999, etc.) presents their fourth visit to Mrs. Madoff's busy, bright, and active classroom. Today is career day, when students bring special visitors to school to talk about their work. It may be scary for a child to introduce his or her guest, but the first-person narrator does a fine job of introducing his bulldozer-driving dad, Mr. Lopez. Charlie's visitor is his mom, a judge; Kate's dad plays bass in an orchestra at night, practices, and handles child-care during the day, while his wife works in a bank. The multicultural class meets a writer, a paleontologist, a school-crossing guard, a nurse, a veterinarian, a sanitation worker, a carpenter, a grocery store manager, and even a student teacher's college professor. A full-page illustration shows each worker on the job; smaller details facing these pages introduce them and their host children to readers as well as to the rest of Mrs. Madoff's class. A sparkling, family-centered, no-threat introduction to considerations of what might be fun for little ones to do when they grow up. (Picture book. 2-5)