Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? by Paula Faris Illustrated by Bhagya Madanasinghe

 

I think there has always been a lot of pressure on adults and children to "do" something big with their lives in the way of career. We do often ask children, What do you want to Do When you Grow up?" Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? by Paula Faris changes the tone and the outlook for children with this book. I am not sure I can begin to tell you how much I love this book, but I will try.

Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? has beautiful bright illustrations. I also love that the illustrations are inclusive and show children of all colors, cultures and backgrounds. I think that background adds to the appeal of the book. This is a large children's book, measuring about 9 1/4 by 9 3/4 inches in size and 32 pages long. It is aimed at children ages four to eight but it really is a timeless message that could appeal to people of all ages.  

Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? features a girl named Lina who doesn't know what she wants to "be" when she grows up and struggles with that as her class hosts career day. What Lina does know is what kind of person she wants to be. This book focuses on developing character and I love that. The author has a page in the back of the book explaining why she wrote the book and how she hopes it will help children. I also like the page at the end of the book with good questions to ask the children you are reading the book with. The author, Paula Faris, is a journalist who is also involved in Girls and Boys Clubs of America and I think that comes through in this book in a great way. I think Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? would make a great gift and also a good discussion book for children's classes and book groups.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.