Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do

by Kathryn Heling, Deborah Hembrook, Andy Robert Davies (Illustrator)

Teach your little one about a wide spectrum of careers with this playful guess-and-reveal picture book—perfect for reading aloud with preschool-age children and up!

A community-oriented, gender-neutral, and rhyme-filled introduction to jobs that support and enhance society

Who wears what to work? The clues in each lively verse can be spotted hanging from the clotheslines. A mail carrier’s uniform, the artist’s brushes, and the chef’s apron all hang from the clothesline. Then turn the page to learn which professionals wear and use the special gear in the jobs they do. Clever illustrations show the workers helping one another, and in the end, everyone joins together for a celebration that is out of this world.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Nonfiction, Pre K, School, Kids

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Mari]

A rhyming guessing game. What fun! Kids love this kind of riddle book, and I love that the authors deliberately have women doing jobs where picture books more often show men- firefighters, astronauts, etc. Plus, if you look carefully at the illustrations, you can see that the pictures tell a story that the kids can 'read' via the pictures. This kind of book is great for building kids background knowledge, which in turn makes learning to read much easier.

[Edward Sullivan]

Guessing people's occupations by what they wear. I especially like the inclusion of women in jobs like astronaut, carpenter, and firefighter.

[RJ]

Yeah, you know! It's not mind-blowing but it does what it says on the package. Love a picture book that it also a game.

[J]

While I loved the premise of the book, the execution leaves a little to be desired. The end is a bit of a let down. Also the gender role reversal is a little obvious. I believe that kids should realize that a carpenter, mail carrier, and astronaut can be females, but it swerved into didactic for me.

[N]

I thought this would be a good book to engage an audience through providing opportunities for guessing, and then I noticed there are lady astronauts, carpenters, and firefighters! Combating gender stereotypes FTW.

[Claire]

The girls have all the cool jobs. Not great for boys.

[Joanne Roberts]

I wanted to love this book. I wanted to envy this book. In fact that’s the reason I was so desperate to read it, because I wished I had thought of it. Because of my envy, I can’t help but think about what I would have done differently and so, here are a few of those things along with what was brilliant about this book in the Clothesline Clues series. So: that concept, right? Kids love to guess and solve mysteries and occupations are something that is often emphasized in classrooms—score A+. The chosen occupations? C+ Maybe overdone choices? Because while being an astronaut is definitely shooting for the stars (pun intended) and it is certainly easily recognizable by it’s uniform, there are a lot more scientists going into space these days. And the artist? I guess the smock and beret thing has its place, but what do (actual) modern artists wear? Since it’s in the text, I have to think that was on the authors not the illustrator. Don’t get me started on the annoying stereotype of farmers which in no way resembles the growers I know. I'm glad to see women in some of these traditionally male roles, but they're pretty much all women. It seemed overt to me. This next one is on the illustrator: what is that astronaut traveling in? And is that really a match on the last page? Hmm. And yeah here’s the pickiest thing of all, putting a space suit on a clothesline. That bugs me. I would’ve liked to see the theme be more than a schtick. What does this book do well? It’s a really smart, fun idea with lively illustrations. The interconnectedness the illustrator adds would have thrilled my kid-self—I’d have wanted to jump right into that little town. I can see this book used as a guessing game in schools….. I think it could have been even more, but as is? Fun to pick up and play.

[Mama Bibliosoph]

*Look at the clotheslines and see every clue! Who uses these things for the jobs that they do?*

My kids love guessing game picture books! This one is about matching clothing to the kind of job it is worn for. First we see a clothesline with clothes associated with a particular job (along with a few accessories to provide extra clues). When we turn the page, we are told the answer, and we see the worker doing the job in their community. These scenes are often quite busy with lots of details, but the empty white background helps a lot. There is also a welcome diversity of gender and ethnic representations.

Throughout the book we see the first person we meet, a mail carrier, delivering party invitations to all the others: a farmer, a chef, and artist, a carpenter, a firefighter, and finally an astronaut. At the end, the astronaut gets into her rocket and we discover that we are at a launch party!

Understanding that some clothes have occupational functions is an important concept for kids, and learning about the components for particular professionals also helps support dress-up skills and pretend play.

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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books about clothing and dressing:https://www.lineupthebooks.com/dressing/

[Kennedy Conrad]

I thought this book was extremely cute and could be used to a variety of content areas. I would recommend this to the younger grade levels like kindergarten or first grade. I think for this book to be a higher level it would need to provide more facts or information on each job to provide a greater perspective for each student. I used this book in my placement to incorporate with an inquiry-based project about interviewing classmates to then make a flipbook that highlights clues to determine who each classmate is. This book uses clues to determine what each job would be. This book gets students to critically thinking and use both the images and words to figure out what job is being represented on that page. I also really liked the blending of images this book provides it gives students the exposure the vase ways images and drawings can be represented in a book.

[Rose Rosetree]

This brilliant title opens the door to caring more about the people we meet in our lives, however randomly we meet them.

Simple words, easy rhymes.
This might seem at first like a generic picture book.
But really it's so much more.

How many books encourage young readers to actively direct their curiosity toward people.
Based on their clothes on seven different clothesline.
And, by extension, viewing the clothes people wear as clues to who they are.

Imagine, clothes could be more than fashion statements.
Clothes could tell us about our society, and people whose lives are different from ours.
Clothes might even awaken a lifelong passion for social justice!

FIVE STARS and HIGHEST PRAISE for this remarkable book.

[Molly]

Clothing storytime! I checked this out with the intention of making it a flannel board instead, but that was going to be far too labor-intensive. It ended up being really fun - I told the kids I needed their help, so they all gathered around as we read (yes, they got too close again! But we're working on respecting the bubble!). It's fun to have them shout out answers.

I ended up taking my flannel idea and doing it differently - I made a flannel version of myself and a bunch of accessories, and then had the kids guess what I should wear in each scenario (rainy day, playing baseball, etc.). I was actually really proud of how it turned out, and a couple of the parents told me it was super cute.

[storymamas]

The perfect book for talking about community workers! Each page gives a few rhyming clues about a specific job and the reader is asked to infer by looking at clothes and items used by each worker. Once you turn the page it’s revealed what job the worker does. We love how the story also has a plot. The mail carrier starts the story and you can spot her in each page passing out an invite to every person along the way. At the end of the story everyone comes together to celebrate! We loved how the author/illustrator mix it up with the typical gender roles in specific jobs! Woman astronauts, construction workers and firefighters, yes please!

[Shantel Floyd]

A beautiful picture book that deciphers jobs by clothing/uniform. The title is literally the synopsis. The book is wonderfully and thoroughly illustrated. That's what I loved about it most and what I think children will especially enjoy about the book. Nothing basic about them. I loved that the text was simple and gave the children a chance to guess at the occupation and then of course the next page reveals the job. Another point in the book's favor is the use of women in the occupational roles, particularly the ones that are usually only highlighted as a male having.

[Paige Smith]

When I read this book my first thought was how adorable the poem and pictures were. While reading further into the text I was very surprised and pleased to see that jobs like a firefighter and an astronaut were portrayed as being done by women. I loved how it showed how anyone could do any job and did not play into societies ideals of gender roles when it comes to jobs! I thought this book was done very well and would recommend it to anyone!

[Renee]

Great guessing game book about community helpers and other occupations. Short rhyming text and clothing clues hung up on the clothesline, encourage the kids to guess person's job. Many of the roles go against traditional stereotypes. For example, the carpenter, mail person, fire fighter, etc are women.

Interested in trying this with a felt board, clipping one of the clothing clues cut out if felt on a clothesline made from yarn line as we read.

[Grace Kramer]

This book was very intriguing to read because it includes clues for different careers. I feel like this would engage children while also showing them the possibility of all the different career choices they will have one day. At the end, all the careers join together to show how each job is just as important as the other. It also is a symbol of community and how important it is to help each other out.

[Jennifer]

This was really good for storytime - interactive, rare words (hue, canvas, easel, etc) and gender parity in the workforce (actually it was kind of girl heavy but the SCOTUS is boy heavy so, again, PARITY). It was great to hear kids call out the jobs - SPACE MAN!! Then they got to learn the word astronaut. :)

[Amanda Fanning]

This book is super interactive. I think if you were doing a lesson on careers that is would be super helpful to use. As well as in a SPED classroom setting if you were trying to have students identify different people in the community. The images were simple and on white background which made it so much easier to read the text.

[Mama Bearian]

This is a really fun concept for a book that I really enjoyed. Each 2-page spread features a clothesline with items pinned to it, along with some rhyming text explaining what the items are. From the clues, readers are encouraged to guess the jobs of the people who own those items. This book would be a fun one for a "community helpers" unit in preschool or kindergarten!

[Caroline]

A fun non-fiction picture book where readers guess what sport an athlete will play based on the clothes on the clothesline shown.

The colorful illustrations, simple rhyming text, and the alternating boy and girl athletes make this a sports story time winner.

[Shari (Shira)]

Interactive, guessing game book: The work clothes of a specific worker is on the clothesline. The children guess the job. The really cool thing about this book is the women in jobs like fire fighter, carpenter, and astronaut.

[Jennifer]

Simple and straight forward text and clear, bright illustrations, this is a great addition to story times with toddlers and preschoolers. The format is question and answer so there's plenty of opportunity to get the kids engaged.

[Emily Carson]

This book matches clothes that people commonly wear (stereotypical) for some jobs with the people to give kids a way to help identify what kind of jobs people may have based off of the clothing/ uniform they are wearing.

[Dylan Coomes]

This is a fun early read about what different types of job people have and what they wear. This would be good for an early read along as it is very basic and easy to follow for a very young audience, a good addition to a classroom.

[Bern]

Finding the right clothes to match the activity and weather is a perpetual lesson in our home that never quite sinks in. So I often have books like this in rotation. Sensory kids are somethin' hey, there's no telling them to wear jackets and pants because it's freezing outside.

[curiouskat_books]

Talks about jobs in a fun guessing game format. While I do wish there was a bit more depth to the jobs or explaining the significance of the articles of clothing and tools mentioned (perhaps in the end of the book), it was a nice book.

[Vicki]

This book will teach/reinforce the community helper theme. Rhyming text and crisp concise illustrations make this a nice book to share, in the form of a guessing game.

[Elaine]

Excellent story time read!

[Leslie]

This book was recommended while I was searching for books to read at Community Helper Day at Head Start. Fun presentation and I’m looking forward to sharing it. If only it included a Librarian!

[Cara Mia]

We used this book as our opening day intro to community helpers and careers for the week. Using the clues written, I was also able to assess engagement with various careers and prior exposure.