CurriConnects Book List - What Do You Do?
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What Do You Do?
Books about people in different and widely varied careers, including non-traditional ones and lesser-known ones.
Preschool and Picture Books
A Job for Wittilda - Caralyn Buehner, (978-0803711495), Fiction
Interest level: K-3, Lexile: 550
What else can a witch do for work with her flying broom but deliver pizza for a pizza shop?
Ella Takes the Cake - Carmela D'Amico, (978-0439627948), Fiction
Interest level: K-3, Lexile: 520
Ella wants to help her mother with her work in the bakery, but she's not sure about what she can do.
He Bear, She Bear - Stan Berenstain, (978-0394929972), Fiction
Interest level: 1-4, Lexile: 470
The Berenstain brother and sister imagine what jobs their future might hold.
How Santa Got His Job - Stephen Krensky, (978-0689806971), Fiction
Interest level: K-2, Lexile: 380
Santa searches for an unusual job, something that will fit him to a T.
Early Elementary Books
Buzby - Julia Hoban, (978-0606073295), Fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 300
A cat learns what special job he can do after getting hired as a hotel busboy and creating chaos.
Career Day - Anne Rockwell, (978-0060275655), Fiction
Interest level: 1-4, Lexile: 430
Mrs. Madoff's class enjoys hearing about a variety of professions from visitors to their elementary class.
Girls: A to Z - Eve Bunting, (978-1563971471), Non-fiction
Interest level: K-2, Lexile: 0
Careers for girls from A to Z appear in this picture book.
Mommy Works, Daddy Works - Marika Pederson, (978-1550376579), Non-fiction
Interest level: K-2, Lexile: 270
Many mothers and fathers both work in different occupations; find out what they do and what kind of transportation they use.
Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin - Gene Barretta, (978-0805079173), Non-fiction
Interest level: 3-8, Lexile: 910
The Singing Man: Adapted from a West African Folktale - Angela Medearis, (978-0823411030), Fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 660
One African brother disregards his family's advice and becomes a musician, despite the loftier ambitions of his brothers; his return in later years affirms his job selection.
Your Job is Easy - Carl Sommer, (978-1575370187), Fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 420
What happens when a farm father and mother exchange jobs for a day?
Upper Elementary to Middle School Books
Anastasia's Chosen Career - Lois Lowry, (978-0395425060), Fiction
Interest level: 2-8, Lexile: 730
Anastasia is at it again, this time on her way to a modeling job in Boston; she learns about the career of being a bookseller at the same time.
Bachelor Girl - Roger Macbride, (978-0064406918), Fiction
Interest level: 4-8, Lexile: 780
Rose of Little House fame moves to San Francisco as a teenager to become a telegraph operator and learn to be independent in the 1800's.
Bradley and the Billboard - Mame Farrell, (978-0374309497), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6, Lexile: 650
A baseball hero must adjust his idea of real masculinity when he finds a job as a model.
Jack Plank Tells Tales - Natalie Babbitt, (978-0545004961), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6, Lexile: 860
Jack unhappily searches for another profession after deciding piracy isn't for him, but he is unable to find something perfect.
Paper Boy - Isabelle Holland, (978-0823414222), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 590
A teen-aged Irish immigrant tries to help support his family when his father falls ill; he gets a job as a newspaper courier but runs into difficulties when someone steals from the company.
Shoeshine Girl - Clyde Bulla, (978-0064402286), Fiction
Interest level: 2-5, Lexile: 330
Sarah gets an early start on a career when she becomes a shoe shine girl to help earn much-needed dollars.
Sky Sweeper - Phillis Gershator, (978-0374370077), Fiction
Interest level: 4-7, Lexile: 810
Takiboki revels in his job of straightening the stones, sweeping the flower petals, and creating lines in the temple gardens in Japan.
The Top Job - Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, (978-0525477891), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 880
One girl proudly shares her father's lofty occupation of changing lightbulbs for the Empire State Building.
Voices of Ancient Egypt - Kay Winters, (978-0792275602), Non-fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 780
Workers in Ancient Egypt describe their very different occupations: scribe, farmer, pyramid builder, carpenter, artisan, herdsman, bird netter , clothes washer, weaver , goldsmith,, and even embalmer .
Zooman Sam - Lois Lowry, (978-0440416760), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6, Lexile: 620
Sam learns to read as he prepares to dress as a zoo employee for his school's career day.
Middle School to Young Adult Books
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists - Jeannine Atkins, (1584690119), Non-fiction
Interest level: 5-8, Lexile: 990
This book tells how 6 famous women scientists, including biologist Jane Goodall and conservationist Rachel Carson, achieved great things despite traditional barriers and various obstacles.
Scrib - David Ives, (978-0060598419), Fiction
Interest level: 5-10, Lexile: 930
Sixteen-year-old Scrib has many adventures delivering mail in the American West, some involving great danger.