Work Song

Paulsen, Gary

ISBN 10: 0780799143 ISBN 13: 9780780799141

Publisher: Turtleback Books, 2000

Synopsis

The talented Paulsens celebrate the work ethic with sensitivity and grace as they remind readers of the quiet dignity that exists in everyday lives. Provide(s) a song of praise to the unsung heroes in every child's world and to the simple satisfaction of a job well done.--School Library Journal. Full color.

About this title

About the Author

GARY PAULSEN has written nearly two hundred books for young people, including the Newbery Honor Books Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room. He divides his time between a home in New Mexico and a boat on the Pacific Ocean.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. As they did in Tortilla Factory (Harcourt, 1995), the Paulsens have once again collaborated to celebrate the labors of common people. Gary Paulsen's brief rhyming text evokes the rhythm and sounds of a musical score as he pays homage to the "keening noises and jolting sights" of a carpenter at work on a new house or truckers on "one more nighttime run." Although the author mentions "offices filled with glowing screens," the occupations celebrated within these covers are not to be found in financial houses on Wall Street or among the corporate giants. Instead, he has looked to the streets outside the skyscrapers, into the small shops, classrooms, and factories that fill our cities and into the fields, highways, and markets that extend across the countryside. Here are the mothers and fathers of the majority of America's children. Ruth Wright Paulsen's impressionistic oil paintings extend the brief text into many worlds?an ice-cream shop, a hairdressing salon, a library, and even under the sea. Individuals from many cultures carry on their daily work with great dignity, returning home to their families at the end of the day to rest and prepare to carry on the same refrain in the morning. Although the gender depictions are fairly traditional, the soft colors, spare text, and overall design of the book provide a song of praise to the unsung heroes in every child's world and to the simple satisfaction of a job well done.?Barbara Kiefer, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0780799143
• ISBN 13: 9780780799141
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32