What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Children face no escape from this question but Jerry Pinto has many cheeky answers, all written in humorous verse. While it is understood that children can be anything they want to be, we love how this book covers such diverse possibilities, beyond mere careers, occupations or strata of society. We also have delightful references that will have kids curious -- for instance, what is an organ grinder? The grind organ, to my surprise, is a musical instrument that you play by rotating a cylinder with pegs! From driving taxis in Cotopaxi (an active stratovolcano in the Andes, by the way) to being a child minder, this is a fun book of rhymes for kids to read out, narrate or perform. The book spans different cultures too - the boy who is narrating the book, for instance, considers living with his Chandu Mama and becoming a cabbage farmer but is suddenly taken with the idea of dancing in the Bolshoi in Russia.  As children, we dreamed of a different career every day, from an astronaut to a vet! Children will laugh and nod in agreement with this fun roller-coaster of a book. It encourages them to do what they want and to slow their pace in this rushed and relentless world.  The icing on the cake is Ashok Rajagopalan's vivacious illustrations, which mirror all the wit and wisdom of the child whose voice steers this entire book forward.