About the Holiday
Are you working today? Then have some fun! Listen to music, dress up or down or even a bit silly, enlist your coworkers for some games, share some jokes, or even throw a party—just don’t forget to include your boss!
Snowmen at Work
Written by Caraline Buehner | Written by Mark Buehner
One day, a little boy says, he woke up to find that “more snow had fallen soft and deep” overnight, but there was something odd: the sidewalk and the walkway were already shoveled. The snowman that he’d made the night before was standing in its spot, yet the boy wondered, “Was he the one who shoveled with a snowman shoveling crew? / Could it be that I don’t see that snowmen have jobs too?”
Image copyright Mark Buehner, 2012, text copyright Caralyn Buehner, 2012. Courtesy of Dial Books for Young Readers.
The boy imagines other jobs that snowmen might do. Maybe there are snowmen dentists who drill “bits of coal to fix a snowman’s smile” before sending him “home in style.” If your sled has “crooked runners” perhaps snowmen mechanics can make them straight again. And the grocer at the snowmen’s favorite store would stock shelves “with food snowmen love to eat: / Frozen peas and Frosty Flakes / And ice cream for a treat.”
Image copyright Mark Buehner, 2012, text copyright Caralyn Buehner, 2012. Courtesy of Dial Books for Young Readers.
How about snow kids? Just like real kids, they’d like having pets too! They’d love to go to the snow pet store to see the snow pups and the swimmers in the cold fish tank. The snow baker would be an artist creating frozen treats and frosted cake—“enough for everyone.” Of course snow children would go to snow school where they’d be taught “To count snowflakes one by one. / And how to spell Antarctica, / Refrigerate, and fun.”
Image copyright Mark Buehner, 2012, text copyright Caralyn Buehner, 2012. Courtesy of Dial Books for Young Readers.
Snow magicians could do cool tricks, and when a snow cat got stuck in the branches of a tree, snow firefighters would get them down easy as can be. There could be snow librarians to read to little ones, and snow deliverymen to bring “frozen pizza to your door.” At the factory, snow workers would make toys for snow boys and girls, and snow truck drivers could haul “frozen goods to town.”
Yes, the little boy thinks as he goes back inside his home, “My snowman really might have / Shoveled, and I never knew / That all around us snowmen / Have a lot of work to do!”
Image copyright Mark Buehner, 2012, text copyright Caralyn Buehner, 2012. Courtesy of Dial Books for Young Readers.
Caraline and Mark Buehner’s snowmen are favorites of little ones with their sunny smiles and busy secret lives. In Snowmen at Work, young readers will love getting a sneak peek at how their favorite winter creations might fill jobs around town that they’re familiar with. The idea of snow puppies and kittens, snow school, and a snowman to do their chores will delight kids. Frosted cakes, frozen pizza, and frosty flakes are clever twists on children’s best-loved treats and may have kids thinking up other cold meals and tidbits they might enjoy.
Mark Buehner’s riotously colorful illustrations offer maximum joyfulness as the snowmen go about their jobs with ever-present grins. Children will want to linger over the pages to catch all the details and jokes tucked here and there: A framed quote on the dentist’s wall reads “Be true to your teeth or they’ll be false to you,” and the snow magician’s lion has a mane made up of mittens, just to name two. And is that snowman outside the little boy’s home reaching for his shovel again just as he closes the door?
The perfect antidote to gray winter days and a cheerful addition to those brilliant blue ones, Snowmen at Work would be welcome on any child’s bookshelf.
Ages 3 – 7
Dial Books, 2012 | ISBN 978-0803735798
Learn more about Caralyn and Mark Buehner and their books on their website.
International Have Fun at Work Day Activity
Fun at Work! Word Search
When you love your job, work is fun! Find the names of thirty professions in this printable Fun at Work! Word Search Puzzle.
Fun at Work! Word Search Puzzle | Fun at Work! Word Search Puzzle Solution
Picture Book Review
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