Take Your Mama to Work Today

by Amy Reichert, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator)

Overview

Coworkers beware—Violet’s here to “help” at the office in this lively picture book that puts a fun-loving spin on the grown-up work world.

When Violet visits her mom’s office on Take Your Child to Work Day (or snow days, or school holidays, or babysitter-is-sick days), she is very helpful. She answers the phone (once she stops accidentally hanging up on people!), makes business cards (after adding a snazzy personal touch!), learns how to use the paper shredder (and discovers how to make her very own confetti!), and gives the boss pointers on his presentation. With a little mayhem—and a lot of joy—Violet makes her mark on the office!

Whimsical text and effervescent illustrations highlight the indelible spirit of Violet, an adorable character young readers and parents alike will delight in knowing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416970958
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/20/2012
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	929,440
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Amy Reichert knows from experience how much kids can help with grownup work. She couldn’t have written this book without her daughter, Joan, and one funny seven-year-old named Julia. She is the author of three other children’s books, including the award-winning While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. She lives with her family in Bethesda, Maryland.

Alexandra Boiger is the illustrator of numerous children’s books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and The Little Bit Scary People by Emily Jenkins. Ms. Boiger lives in Northern California with her husband and daughter. Visit her at AlexandraBoiger.com.

Editorial Reviews

Whether it’s due to a snow day or baby-sitter illness, “You never know when you might have to go to work at the office.” Should that happen, says the irrepressible, nattily dressed, umbrella-wielding narrator, Violet, make the most of it. “Hop hop hop across the entire lobby on just the black squares,” she instructs, “all the way to the elevator and push the UP button. Grown-ups love it when kids push the elevator buttons for them.” With this and other working world tips, Violet proves to be a more benevolent, less spoiled version of Eloise; she’s literally bounding with energy and eagerness to help (except when she’s napping during a boring conference call, along with all the adults), and she’s so utterly confident that even the boss ends up taking her advice on how to give an effective presentation. Although adults may identify more closely with Violet’s flummoxed mother, those still too young for the labor force should get a kick out of seeing how easy it is to discombobulate the button-down mind. Ages 4–8. Agent: BookStop Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Reichert embellishes a narrative style reminiscent of Laura Numeroff’s in the If You Give… series and presents a sturdy heroine evocative of Kay Thompson’s Eloise…. Many families will enjoy the interplay here between mother (efficient and loving) and daughter (sky’s the limit).”

—Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2012

“Violet proves to be a more benevolent, less spoiled version of Eloise…those still too young for the labor force should get a kick out of seeing how easy it is to discombobulate the button-down mind.”

—Publishers Weekly, January 16, 2012

“Boiger’s whimsical watercolor illustrations show the charismatic little helper playing chair tag to “liven things up” in a meeting and teaching an adult how to add a “snazzy personal touch” by lying face down on the copy machine. Lots of cheeky fun that’s sure to elicit giggles.”

—School Library Journal, February 2012

“Young Violet offers children plenty of advice for the professional world in this lighthearted tale that uses the circular, second-person style of Laura Numeroff’s If You Give . . . series…. Eloise-esque illustrations expertly capture the exuberant girl’s innocuous misbehavior as well as all of the exhausted adults.... Children will relate to Violet’s enthusiasm to return to the office, and adults will recognize the coworkers’ subtle eye rolling.”

—Booklist, March 15, 2012

“Violet is the perfect office assistant on Take Your Child to Work Day—she helps the boss with his presentation, answers her mother's phone, and delivers packages to the mailroom. Her antics along the way "may" not be quite so helpful, but don't tell her that! Adorable illustrations by Alexandra Boiger ramp up the fun.”

—Scholastic Parent & Child, April 13, 2012

“Boiger’s pencil and black tea drawings, punched up with bits of watercolor, effectively display time and movement with just the right amount of chaos as she sets adults off-kilter and places Violet everywhere at once. Sly comparisons of coffee breaks to school snack time and mid-afternoon slumps to naptime remind adult readers that they probably really did learn all they need to know in kindergarten, but what really makes this narrative work is the fact that Violet is clearly the heir to Kay Thompson’s Eloise. Her obstreperous energy, brazen confidence in the face of adults, and even her body type, with its poochy little tummy and continually upturned chin, charm audiences for the same reasons that Eloise did, suggesting that every stodgy grownup space needs a pixie.

Hence this is one of those books clearly aimed at two audiences: the children who will delight in reading about a freedom they would never enjoy without serious consequences, and the adults who need reminding that yeah, it’s tough, but they love their kids anyway.”

—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May 2012

“In these overloaded days of work/life blur, few parents need Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day as an excuse to drag children in…. And what's not to like when you get there? The secret candy drawer, "all the fuss" of doting (or procrastinating) colleagues and snack time, otherwise known as coffee break. This "Eloise"-without-the-attitude (and let's face it, the office is no Plaza) offers an amusing and semi-informative take on what Mom does all day. It may also come in handy.”

—The New York Times Book Review, Children’s Bookshelf, May 13, 2012

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 2—A young girl presents a primer on how to be a "professional Mama's office helper." In an accomplished, matter-of-fact tone, Violet offers tips on helping the boss with a presentation ("that's like show-and-tell for grown-ups"), preparing needed supplies ("Sharpen your pencils and put them in your desk, or in a pencil cup, or line them up, or spell your name with them"), and answering the phone ("DO NOT HANG UP THE PHONE BEFORE YOU PUSH THE HOLD BUTTON"). Boiger's whimsical watercolor illustrations show the charismatic little helper playing chair tag to "liven things up" in a meeting and teaching an adult how to add a "snazzy personal touch" by lying face down on the copy machine. Lots of cheeky fun that's sure to elicit giggles.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

School Library Journal

A feisty, 7-ish girl informs readers what to expect when a snow day, babysitter snafu or "Take Your Child to Work Day" necessitates accompanying a parent to the office. From the "hop hop hop" across the lobby floor on "just the black squares," it's clear that Violet's visit will be a topsy-turvy experience for her mom's bemused and beleaguered co-workers. Reichert embellishes a narrative style reminiscent of Laura Numeroff's in the If You Give… series and presents a sturdy heroine evocative of Kay Thompson's Eloise (as a member of the proletariat). Violet's helpful advice interprets coffee breaks (snack time, with doughnuts) and networking (distributing your rampantly photocopied face, appended with your name and title). She helps the boss with his staff presentation (show-and-tell) and revels in office supplies. Boiger weaves her own daughter's persona into these pencil-and–mixed-media illustrations, depicting Violet and her mother in color, while co-workers are rendered in pale blue-grays and ochres, and office equipment is outlined in similarly sere tones. Violet sports a green, pom-pom–topped cap, red sweater, denim shorts, striped tights and black low-top sneakers. Mom's cranberry-colored umbrella figures visually in Violet's day, whether it's skewering doughnuts or delivering a shower of confetti adeptly fashioned from shredded paper and punched holes. Many families will enjoy the interplay here between mother (efficient and loving) and daughter (sky's the limit). (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews