Title: See It, Dream It, Do It: How 25 people just like you found their dream jobs
Author: Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac
Illustrator: Scot Ritchie
Publisher: Pajama Press
Release Date: October 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781772782882
The creators of If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It are back with inspiring profiles on twenty-five diverse careers and individuals.
Young readers are given a lens into the life of an architect, a paleontologist, a pilot, and so many more through detailed job profiles and full-colour photos. How does a comedian write the perfect joke? How does a private investigator crack a mysterious case? Questions about jobs you know, and don’t know, are answered in a fun and accessible way through pro tips, spin-off job sidebars, and spotlight features about young people already achieving their dreams.
Following the success of If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: How 25 inspiring individuals found their dream jobs, teacher and award-winning author Colleen Nelson, teams up once again with librarian and literacy advocate Kathie MacIsaac to introduce inspiring individuals of many backgrounds, genders, and abilities. Seeing a wide range of representation, in both people and jobs, is the first step to young people discovering their own career possibilities. This information-packed resource shows how education can come in many different forms, such as university, college, trade school, apprenticeship, or specialized training. A wide range of job profiles provides valuable insight into how each individual developed the skills and expertise they needed for their career.
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REVIEWS
Gr 4-8–As a companion to If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It, this volume is organized in a collective biography format that highlights an individual who found their dream job. Careers range from park ranger and ranch owner to cave microbiologist and electrical engineer. Although the individuals highlighted are culturally and socially diverse, most come from Canada and the United States. The representation of a diversity of cultures and abilities is impressive as well as the uniqueness of some jobs (funeral director, midwife, forensic artist). In addition to a general description of the individual’s job and experience, each chapter provides an impressive use of supplementary information that introduces even more individuals in the field while presenting captions and sidebars like “Spin-Off Jobs,” “Pro-Tips,” and recommendations of “Why Not Try.” Each spread is visually engaging and expansive due to illustrations, photographs, and use of color to highlight those who represent the role in different ways. The supplementary information in the beginning and the end of the text is unique and thought-provoking. What if you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up? What careers were behind the making of the book? The “Employment Experts” section, “Try It Out” section, and glossary help make this book a valuable tool for students thinking of their future careers. VERDICT: A visually appealing and inspiring representation of careers that would be a strong addition to middle school collections.– Danielle Schwessinger – School Library Journal
Solid inspiration to help young people think big about their futures.
Skydiving instructor, paleontologist, and electrical engineer are just a few of the options highlighted in this career guide.
Nelson, MacIsaac, and Ritchie have built on their earlier work, If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It (2022), with profiles of 25 new people pursuing their dreams. Laudably, the subjects are diverse in terms of race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and ability. Standup comedian and actor Maysoon Zayid, who has cerebral palsy, notes that she was drawn to comedy because “Hollywood doesn’t cast a lot of Disabled people.” Funeral director Vilosanan Sivatharman’s cultural background makes him especially well suited for serving members of the Tamil community. The bubbly style of the writing conveys these people’s excitement for their chosen paths; readers will immediately be pulled in and come away spurred to mull their own ambitions. “Spin-Off Job, “Pro Tip,” “Why Not Try,” and “Inspiring Individual” sidebars enliven the text. Useful backmatter includes a section on all the people involved in the making of this volume (those considering going into publishing will be pleased at the many opportunities available), while “Meet the Employment Experts” offers valuable information about getting started with job searching.Solid inspiration to help young people think big about their futures. – Kirkus Reviews
Personally, I don’t think enough attention is paid to those kids that fret constantly about their future. I know that when I was a highly strung child, I perpetuated a continual fret about what my future job prospects might be. It would have done me quite a bit of good to see a book like See It, Dream It, Do It. Career books are always very popular in a library, of course, but I feel like this book offers a level of reassurance that is different. For example, it might say to you, “you like horses – here are the jobs”. Then it’ll show you actual photographs of actual people doing one of these jobs. It even has spinoff jobs as well! With a nicely diverse selection of experts, maybe I just like this book because it appeals to elementary school/middle school me, but doggone it that kid still exists and we have to give her something! – School Library Journal, Fuse 8
“Noteworthy is consideration given to people from diverse cultures and diverse genders [dreaming of] all sorts of jobs, helping readers to consider cool career paths and give some consideration of their own dream jobs. This is an informative and engaging nonfiction compilation.” – Dr. Larry Recommends
Title: If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: How 25 Inspiring Individuals Found Their Dream Jobs
Author: Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac
Illustrator: Scot Ritchie
Publisher: Pajama Press
Release Date: October 25, 2022
ISBN: 9781772782288
There is no single path to the job of your dreams.
What does it take to become a stunt person? How does a mathematician spend her days? When does a barber become the center of a community? In this refreshing take on a careers book, meet twenty-five individuals of different backgrounds, genders, and abilities who have found their careers through a wide range of experience, education, intention, and inspiration. From Joshua Jones, who built a business where he could thrive as a Deaf interior designer, to Teresa Tam, whose hunger for knowledge led her to the position of Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, each of these dreamers found ways to dig deep into their passion, to gain experience and knowledge, and to turn that into a job.
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REVIEWS
“Readers will delight in learning more about the range of professions available, and adults looking for a career change may be tempted to pick up the book as well. Will inspire readers to find—and follow—their dreams.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Colleen Nelson and Kathie [MacIsaac]…created a book where 25 people of a wide range of occupations explain precisely how they got those jobs in the first place. How cool is that? … It actually looks like something a kid would get a kick out of reading. This is so cool.”—School Library Journal, Fuse 8
“Extremely engaging, the stories in If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It are not only inspiring but will, perhaps, spark some readers to explore unique professions and, above all, to follow their dreams. Highly Recommended”—CM Magazine
“In this well-formatted collective biography, nicely illustrated with Scot Ritchie’s full color, exuberant page decorations, we meet a variety of people who set out to pursue jobs from farming to teaching to writing books… In addition to being a good book to have for career studies, this book can offer a lot of scope for the imagination and open up the world of career opportunities.”—YA Books Central
“[T]he perfect book for anyone who wants to be inspired and learn more about a host of different career opportunities. The book lays out each person’s story very nicely, not only telling each person’s individual background and career aspirations, but also tips for how to work toward that job… Definitely a must read…Overall rating: 5.”—Beth Rodgers, YA Books Central
“[A] dynamic resource that will appeal to middle grade readers…There are many opportunities throughout this book for ALL readers to see themselves reflected through the biographies of those featured…with incredible inspiration from those featured in the book and Kathie and Colleen’s excellent way of bringing their stories to life, this book can provide a little bit of guidance.”—Storytime with Stephanie
“[A]n inspiring, in-depth look at how specific people came to their profession….This book features 25 individuals with a wide variety of interesting jobs and what it takes to get there….A great resource for ‘career day’.”—The International Educator
“This book illuminates a pile of modern careers and professions in a way that’s diverse and accessible for young readers. Each job is described with just the right amount of detail… This is all enhanced with photos and vibrant illustrations…Every reader will find themselves in this book.”—Marsha Skyrpuch (Goodreads)
“The layout is attractive and easy to follow, text features provide strong organization, and additional snippets of information in catchy categories will make If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It a popular choice for young and old audiences.”—Bit About Books
Whether you want to learn about Martha the Smokejumper, Blake the NHL Scout or Ismail the Documentary Photographer, this book contains several common and less heard of jobs. Which career will entice you?”—Metroland Media
“How does a person find a job that they enjoy doing? This inspiring book helps readers do just that….This is a wonderful compilation sure to interest students….A solid choice for a library needing middle grade nonfiction about careers.”—School Library Journal
“In this well-formatted collective biography, nicely illustrated with Scot Ritchie’s full color, exuberant page decorations, we meet a variety of people who set out to pursue jobs from farming to teaching to writing books….In addition to being a good book to have for career studies, this book can offer a lot of scope for the imagination and open up the world of career opportunities.”—Ms. Yingling Reads