About the Holiday
Job Action Day was created in 2008 as a day for job seekers and employees to assess their career goals and take action to make them a reality. Today, experts across the web and in participating companies offer special seminars and training sessions to provide the latest in career advice. Today’s holiday, which is sponsored by LiveCareer, gives people a chance to reflect on what is most important in their life. Are you doing the job you’re passionate about? Are you bringing your passions to the job you are doing? If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with your position, take another look at your job and where it leads. It’s possible that new opportunities lie within your current job—you never know where a particular job will lead you until you put all your creativity, knowledge, and—most importantly—unique personality—into it. If your current job doesn’t offer these kinds of opportunities, today is a good day to polish that resume and begin a search for a better fit.
Business Pig
By Andrea Zuill
When Jelly Bean gave birth to five piglets at the Sunshine Sanctuary for Farm Animals, one was a standout. Dressed in a pinstripe suit and tie and drinking from a mug, he smiled at the farmer and two volunteers. “What kind of pig is that?” one volunteer asked. “Well, I believe what we have here is a gen-u-wine Business Pig,” the farmer answered. The little girl volunteer named him Jasper.
Copyright Andrea Zuill, 2018, courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
Right from the start, Jasper didn’t like playing in the mud, and instead of rooting for grubs with his snout, he used a shovel. “Everyone at the sanctuary loved little Jasper. But that didn’t keep him from feeling out of place.” So the volunteers made him an office in the corner of the barn with a hay bale desk, a comfortable chair, and a computer. They gave him a job helping with the bookkeeping. When Jasper held a meeting, everyone came “to show their support.”
Copyright Andrea Zuill, 2018, courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
But when it came right down to it, some of the animals didn’t understand him. The chickens ignored his flow charts, “and the goat ate his business card.” And no one seemed to want him as a pet. Jasper decided to be proactive. He wrote articles for the newspaper touting the benefits of pigs as pets, he hung out billboards, and he tacked signs with pull-off tabs onto electrical posts. Then he waited.
Copyright Andrea Zuill, 2018, courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
Soon a little girl carrying a briefcase visited the sanctuary. She studied Jasper’s flow charts, “wanted to exchange business cards with him,” and carefully read his résumé. Jasper was pleased with the interview, “but upper management had to be consulted.” Fortunately, the little girl’s mother was also impressed, and Jasper went home with his “perfect fit.”
Copyright Andrea Zuill, 2018, courtesy of Sterling Children’s Books.
Andrea Zuill’s Jasper will make you swoon. Adorable doesn’t go far enough to describe the absolute perfect expressions on this piglet’s face as he meets the volunteers, sees his office for the first time, reacts to having his business card devoured, and with hope hands out his résumé. Jasper’s gestures are equally as endearing and will make readers’—kids and adults—hearts swell. Zuill’s story is humorous in its use of business jargon (Jasper is “smart, outgoing, proactive,” and enlists the help of his contacts), uplifting in the way the sanctuary’s volunteers and animals support the little pig, and emotionally resonant when this diminutive businessman is passed over for adoption. Kids will feel good all over when the piglet finally meets his perfect match and gets the “job” he’s been searching for.
With both laugh-out-loud and heartwarming moments, Business Pig would make a much-loved gift and addition to home, classroom, and library bookshelves that will be asked for again and again.
Ages 3 – 7
Sterling Children’s Books, 2018 | ISBN 978-1454926849
Discover more about Andrea Zuill, her books, and her art on her website.
Job Action Day Activity
Briefcase Craft
Every business kid needs a briefcase! With this easy-to-make craft and printable Dream Job Application, young talents will be taking the world by storm in no time!
Supplies
- Printable Dream Job Application
- Poster board, black or any color a child likes
- Glue
- Scissors
Directions
To Make the Body of the Briefcase
- Cut a rectangle of poster board in proportion to child’s size. Leave ½ inch on either side of the shorter cut to glue the briefcase together. The longer side should be double the height you’d like the finished briefcase to be. (My example was made from a 12-inch by 20-inch strip.)
- Fold the poster board in half
- Glue the side edges together
To Make the Handle
- Cut a narrow strip of poster board
- Fold the right side of the strip toward you and down, pinching it tight; repeat on the left side
Print out the Dream Job Application and fill it in!
You can find Business Pig at these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound
Picture Book Review
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