All Through the Night: Important Jobs that Get Done at Night By Polly Faber

All Through the Night: Important Jobs that Get Done at Night

Polly Faber, Author

Harriet Hobday, Illustrator

Nosy Crow, Fiction, Nov. 1, 2022

Suitable for ages: 2-5

Themes: Jobs, Night, Workers, Parents

Opening: “It’s getting dark, I’ve had my dinner. I’ve brushed my teeth and put on my pajamas. But my mom’s just had her breakfast. She’s brushed her hair and put on her coat….She’s got an important job to do.”

Publisher’s Synopsis:

As the sun sets, a little girl gets ready for bed. Meanwhile her mom is putting on her coat and preparing to go to work.

But she’s not alone. Workers all across the city are getting ready for a busy night. Nurses and doctors are helping people who are sick, delivery workers are unloading groceries, band members are playing music, and journalists are drafting stories. And these are just some of the people who keep things running and prepared all through the night.

Why I like this book:

Make sure you check out the beautiful cover! Polly Faber’s text is spare and lively. Harriet Hobday’s colorful and bold illustrations are so lively! Readers will have fun examining each page! It is a perfect read aloud.

This book will appeal to so many children who have a parent, sibling, grandparent or other family member who work at night, whether it is a second or third shift. They will feel pride in knowing their family member is doing an important job to run the city and prepare for the next work day. Some work in healthcare, entertainment, cleaning, restaurants/supermarkets, transportation, bakeries. law enforcement and fire departments.. Yes kids may miss them, but they will feel proud that their mom or dad does a very important job to keep the city running, healthy and safe.

As a young reporter, I always enjoyed writing a Christmas Eve story of people who would worked while Santa was making his journey around the world — at night time. I remember what it was like at night to put the morning newspaper to bed near midnight and wait for the first pages to arrive to proof read. Yes we used typewriters and the presses had led type. Guess I’m dating myself!

Resources: Great classroom read. Encourage children to draw a picture of the job their parent, family member or neighbor does at night. It would be fun to make a big list of all the jobs that must be done at night. Many are suggested in this book, but there are so many more. Think outside the box.

Polly Faber is the author of Building a Home and Through the North Pole Snow. She is also a children’s book blogger and volunteer reading helper. She lives with her husband, sons, and cats in London, where she has her own tiny free library right outside her house.

Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.

*Review copy provided by Candlewick Press in exchange for a honest review.

Feminist, Social Justice-Themed Board Books for Children

I Want to Be…, Nibi is Water and I am Violet, are part of Second Story Press’s first season releasing feminist, social justice-themed board books for babies and toddlers, ages 0-3 years. The three books explore some amazing and unusual jobs people do; talk about how we use our precious water; and celebrate the color of our skin. Such a wonderful and diverse series of books for little ones! There is simplicity in all three books and they are beautifully illustrated in bright colors that will please toddlers.

I Want to Be…A Gutsy Girls’ ABC

Farida Zarman, Author and Illustrator

Apr. 14, 2020

Synopsis: Filled with diversity and empowerment, little girls will see that they can be anything they want. There are an alphabet of possibilities for when you grow up. Some jobs sound fun — ice sculptor, toymaker, dog handler, kite designer, party planner, and wind farmer. And some jobs sound exciting and important — jockey, aerialist, novelist, sportscaster, oceanographer, and mountain climber. Each fun letter is complimented by an illustration of a girl filled with delight and wonder as she shows us how we can be anything we want to be.

Nibi is Water (Nibi Aawon Nbiish)

Joanne Robertson, Author and Illustrator

Apr. 14, 2020

Synopsis: A first conversation about the importance of nibi (water) told from an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) perspective. Toddlers will learn about the many forms of water in rain, snow and ice. They use water to drink, bathe, brush their teeth and flush the toilet. They build snowmen in the winter, swim in the pool or canoe on a lake. Nature depends upon water to grow plants, food, and trees. Animals need water to drink and fish swim in water. Our role is to thank, respect, love and protect nibi in our daily activities.

I Am Violet

Tania Duprey Stehlik, Author

Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic, Illustrator

Synopsis: This book celebrates and explores how people come in a rainbow of beautiful colors. A little girl looks around her and sees that some people are blue, some are green, some are red. People in the world come in a rainbow of colours and Violet herself is a wonderful mixture of her mom and dad. Her mom is red, her dad is blue, and, as the little girl declares: “I am proud to be both. I am proud to be me! I am Violet!” Her message of pride and acceptance has been simplified for the youngest among us so it can be shared even earlier.

Resources: All three books are great first discussion books. Parents can help toddlers identify letters associated with amazing gender-neutral jobs; they can talk with them about protecting water and learn dual language words (glossary at the end); and they can help their little ones explore their own skin color and the skin color of others. Encourage children to draw pictures of fun jobs, how they use water, and self/family portraits showing their skin colors in bright colors. Children have big imaginations.

*Review copies provided by the publisher.

Hero Mom

Hero Mom

Melinda Hardin, Author

Bryan Langdo, Illustrator

Amazon Children’s Publishing, Fiction, 2013

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes: Military Moms, Jobs, Military Families, Pride, Love, War

Opening: “Our moms are superheroes. My mom doesn’t leap over tall buildings — she builds them.”

Synopsis: The mothers in this book are heroes to their sons and daughters. They fly helicopters, work with dogs to find missing people and dangerous objects, repair aircraft, trucks and tanks, heal patients, and lead battalions. They have two things in common. They are American soldiers and they are moms.

Why I like this book: This is a very positive and heartwarming book that introduces kids to the subject of what military Moms do while they are away serving our country. It is very simple and emphasizes how proud the children are of the job their hero parents do to keep us safe. Melinda Hardin has taken a tough subject of separation and put a positive spin on the subject. I could easily see a military child taking this book to share at school. Bryan Langdo’s pastel watercolors are friendly an engaging and capture a feeling of pride in each child. Hardin also is the author of Hero Dad. These are two great books to use in the classroom.

Resources: Have children in class write thank you letters to deployed military soldiers. All moms and dads are super heroes. Encourage the class to draw pictures about the jobs their parents do, regardless of whether or not they are military. With Father’s Day around the corner, this would be a great activity. Have children pack care packages for soldiers to show them how much you appreciate what they do. I know it warms the hearts of soldiers to receive letters and packages from kids. My grandson received care packages from school children.

Kirkus Review: “An important message, delivered with effective straightforwardness and an abundance of heart.”

School Library Journal: “The luminous watercolors make the difficult subject matter approachable for young children.

Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Books.