What Do People Do All Day?

Written and Illustrated by Richard Scarry
Random House, 1968
Ages 4-9
4/5

This Richard Scarry classic describes what the workers of Busytown do each day, from farming corn and building houses to sailing ocean liners and mining coal for creating electricity. The book is divided into sixteen smaller stories, each of which introduces readers to a variety of occupations and shows different parts of life in Busytown. Some examples of story titles include, "Mother's Work is Never Done", "A Visit to the Hospital", and "Wood and How We Use It".

Scarry's illustrations are filled with the kind of comical details that kids love. Most buildings have windows that allow readers to see what is happening inside and almost all of the pictures show activity and movement; the people of Busytown are truly busy. Lowly Worm and Mortimer Mouse can be found in most illustrations, and Wrong Way Roger often flies his plane overhead with banners such as "Finish your meals". In addition, many objects in each picture are labeled so readers can easily identify them and Busytown is filled with amusing street signs. Most of the stories do not contain much plot and would not be exciting on their own, but in combination with the illustrations they are just the right amount of silly.

However, although this book brings back a lot of fond memories from my own childhood, many of the stories and illustrations are extremely dated. For example, the processes described in "Digging Coal to Make Electricity" and "Cotton and How We Use It" are no longer completely accurate. Some parents may also be concerned about the stereotypes presented by Scarry: the women are referred to only as "Mommy", Grocer Cat buys Mommy a new dress because "she earned it by taking such good care of the house", and the speed demon who causes traffic accidents is Wild Bill Hiccup, an Indian who drives a Buffalomobile.

Despite these drawbacks, What Do People Do All Day? is a great book for the reader who loves to know how things work and spends lots of time poring over illustrations.