STEADY HANDS

Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” receives an invigorating revival in this poetry collection that illuminates the pressures and pleasures of work, including some 34 career choices. “Morning” conveys the vigorous energy work demands through crisp imagery and dynamic phrases: “Engines hum / heels click / and doors thud / behind ambitions.” Poems often describe the ordinary and technical components of the job; “Librarian” features a male librarian’s preparation for his boys-only book club. Others elucidate the surprising motivations behind workers’ chosen career paths; “Dog Walker” reveals that a former attorney sought this less stressful career because “the predictable company of dogs / ...didn’t give him nightmares / or cold sweats / the way standing before / a glowering judge and jury did.” Halsey and Addy’s illustrations match the emotions of the varied subjects, the mixed-media art exuding a muted grittiness as characters perform their daily tasks. Compiled photographs, papers and household objects create multifaceted collages and textured backdrops, and the result is an intriguing, albeit offbeat, examination of the world of work. (Picture book/poetry. 9-13)