Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day
Picture Book Series
For ages 4 to 6
Random House, 1968 ISBN: 978-0394818238
The people in Busytown have all kinds of jobs. There are jobs that are done inside in offices and there are jobs that are done outside. There are also jobs that are done is both places. Why do people do jobs in the first place? If you follow Farmer Alfalfa you will see that he takes the fruits and vegetables that he grows in his gardens to the grocery store run by Grocer Cat who pays Farmer Alfalfa for the produce. Farmer Alfalfa then takes his earnings and uses them to buy the things that his family needs.
In this wonderful book young children can see what the characters in Busytown do with themselves all day. They are able to ‘watch’ a building crew build a house for the large Stitches family; they can see how their letters are sorted, put on planes and delivered; they can see what happens when Abby Cat does to the hospital to have her tonsils out.
For all those times when a parents hears "Dad, how do firemen put a fire out?" or "Ma how is bread made?" this book is a sure to be extremely useful. It will help children understand how work is turned into wages which parents then use to buy the clothes they wear, the food they eat and the toys they play with. They will see that some people work to serve others like doctors, firemen and policeman, and certainly they will have a wonderful time laughing at all the funny things the characters in Busytown do.
