Jabari Asim (Author), Aaron Boyd (Illustrator)

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. In rhyming couplets, a young African American girl describes a day at the office with her dad. After Mom helps her dress and Dad serves breakfast, father and daughter ride the train to a large office building, where the girl assists with memos and meetings and eats lunch from a hotdog stand. The lines sometimes feel forced ("Daddy's chair is noisy. / I hear its squeaky wheels / While he talks on the phone / About contracts and deals"), and, though many kids won't care, Dad's generic office job isn't defined. Still, there are few stories about Take Your Child to Work Day, particularly ones that depict an African American family. Asim's words emphasize the warmth between father and daughter: "You were great today," says Daddy. Boyd's vivid, contemporary watercolors reinforce the family's closeness and the exciting bustle of city and office, and domestic details (decorative masks) celebrate the family's African American heritage. Suggest Kate Banks' The Night Worker (2000) for another child's view of a parent's job. Gillian Engberg
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