LET'S WORK

From artist to professional athlete, 28 career choices are jauntily displayed against neon-bright backgrounds.

Nurse, doctor, bike racer, boxer, gardener, hairdresser, soccer player, jockey—these and more are presented for curious children to ponder. These handmade miniature figures by master Mixtec artisans from the Mexican state of Puebla tease the imagination to explore the possibilities open to anyone with a dream and a goal. The featured professions are introduced in both English and Spanish without gender restrictions or value judgments—no one career is given precedence over another. The many characters—including a musician who uses a wheelchair—are tightly woven from palm and charmingly displayed for readers’ delight. The jumble of fish in the net of the “fisherman or fisherwoman” is amazingly detailed. Weill’s commendable effort to showcase an art form predating the Spanish invasion joins the others in her series featuring the varied talents of native Mexicans (Animal Talk, 2016, etc.). As with those other concept books, the design features bright, vivid colors (fuchsia, lime green, swimming-pool blue, etc.) that background both the intricate figures and the text, which is printed in contrasting colors or white. A note and photograph introducing the artisans rounds out this whimsical bilingual offering.

Gives a delightful sense of possibility in two languages.