Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? (Richard Scarry's Busy World)

FINALLY! Re-Released in all its glory. What a lucky chance that I searched for this book just last week, as our (abridged) copy has been much loved over the past years and saw the pre-order for the 50th anniversary releases. I checked and the number of pages was 96! I was still a bit skeptical, I hadn't seen a full length version since my childhood (at least 25 years ago!) at the local library- but I purchased it thinking it was worth the chance. What a great revelation to see the stories I had not seen in years. My son loves it, and his favorites are all the new stories (along with his old favorites (wood, bread)

Thank you to the publisher for this full release! I could not be more thrilled!

PS Busy Busy World has also been released (also the full version) as of July 14 2015

My children have been making me read this book over and over again for the last 5 years. It is hands-down their favorite book- and we own and we own a lot of books. I purchased this copy as a gift. This book explains how bread is make, how trees are turned into paper, what a hospital visit might look like, what a train trip might look like and much more. The illustrations are charmingly detailed and it is one of Richard Scarry's best. I highly recommend it.

The condition of the book was great. That said this book is very old fashioned with seriously outdated gender roles. I am uncomfortable reading it to my child. It talks about men going out and earning money and using that to buy nice jewelry for their wife who takes good care of their home. It's the rare female character in this book who is not a stay at home mom.

This classic children's book shows how things work. Wonderful drawings show, among other things, a house being built & grain being turned into bread. Many complex operations are explained in a way that children can understand. But, it's supposed to be about what work people do. Published in 1968, this is a classic book showing just how little women count in this world. Moms take children to the library, the post office, the doctor's office, etc. Mom's shop. Men do all the work,- driving, working in shops, operating machinery. How's a little girl to find exciting and encouraging views of women in this book? They didn't. That generation of little girls had to make their own inroads in the world of men. As a result, we have the second women's movement of the 1970's and '80's. Otherwise, this is a terrific book, if you happen to be a boy or a girl who only wants to be a housewife and mom.

This book reinforces gender stereotypes and is not something I want my son reading. There is even a chapter called, "Mother's Work is Never Done." Unfortunately I thought this was a newer edition that softened some of that. It's unfortunate, because my son loves the idea of talking about what people do.

Ugh. What do people do all day? Apparently, they reinforce gender stereotypes. If my daughter wasn't so young and impressionable I'd laugh at the Mother character getting money from her husband to do the grocery shopping or "earning a new dress" for keeping up the house. Barf. I was hoping for the gender equality shown in Cars, Trucks and Things That Go but no such luck. This one's going in the trash.

Very old school job roles. Busy pages. I wanted to talk about all the jobs and careers with my nephew - but almost every page has a a typical "John is a doctor... Mary makes bread at home for her family." ick. Aren't we in 2017??

We owe this one man, well, our childhood.

The essence of this whole line of SCARRY BOOKS,
the trick, the gimmick, is the Intricacy.

The images engage as your child pours over the pages like a Where's Waldo,
with a deep story line that comes forth from imaginations.

The man, Scarry, comes through in the work, an eternal child,
a gentle soul.

A must for Richard Scarry collectors,
this is a Scarry work in a line of suggested books with the similar styles and function.

WHY SCARRY BOOKS?
Our daughter was just accepted into Northwestern's most competitive program,
basically like getting into Julliard for smart people.
She has the highest verbal skills of any child I have ever seen.
She tests "off the charts".

She taught herself to read using, yes, Richard Scarry books at age four.
Another parent of a genius will give you the same testimonial.

Two geniuses of children's media....Richard Scarry and Hans Beck.

Very old school job roles. Busy pages. I wanted to talk about all the jobs and careers with my nephew - but almost every page has a a typical "John is a doctor... Mary makes bread at home for her family." ick. Aren't we in 2017??

We owe this one man, well, our childhood.

The essence of this whole line of SCARRY BOOKS,
the trick, the gimmick, is the Intricacy.

The images engage as your child pours over the pages like a Where's Waldo,
with a deep story line that comes forth from imaginations.

The man, Scarry, comes through in the work, an eternal child,
a gentle soul.

A must for Richard Scarry collectors,
this is a Scarry work in a line of suggested books with the similar styles and function.

WHY SCARRY BOOKS?
Our daughter was just accepted into Northwestern's most competitive program,
basically like getting into Julliard for smart people.
She has the highest verbal skills of any child I have ever seen.
She tests "off the charts".

She taught herself to read using, yes, Richard Scarry books at age four.
Another parent of a genius will give you the same testimonial.

Two geniuses of children's media....Richard Scarry and Hans Beck.

My almost 4 year old requests this book every night. If we let him, it would be the only thing he would read. I love all the explanations of different jobs and how things work. There is a lot of general information and then a little humor mixed into each story, which keeps the kids entertained. I read this and other Richard Scarry books when I was a kid in the 70s, so the drawings always take me back to my own childhood.

I do have two minor complaints. (1) There is no flow to a lot of the stories. For example, the story about all the ways we use wood/trees jumps from "Carpenters nail a tree branch to houses they are building." to "Trees provide shade." to " Harry is planting an apple seed, which will grow into a tree." All are accompanied by pictures all on the same page and are great examples of how trees impact daily life, but it's awkward to read since it's just jumping around from idea to idea. (2) A few ideas in the book are very outdated/sexist and reflect the era in which the book was written. For example, Daddy buys Mommy a dress for doing such a good job cooking dinner and keeping the house clean.

This is NOT the version I remembered my children enjoying - if you're looking for "Busy Day, Busy People" this is NOT it. This one contains outdated language (gender roles in particular). Opened it too late to return it. Very disappointed. Can't give it to the big sister of a friend's newborn, and don't think I can even give it to the local program for getting books into the hands of children who don't have easy access to books.

This one needs to be DROPPED from the publisher's list, and/or certainly from the store's offerings.

My daughter has quite the library of books but this one has been her favorite since the day I got it in the mail. She's just over 2 and she loves pointing out all of the animals, finding the worm ('wormy') on each page and looking at all of the day-to-day activities. I cannot recommend this book enough to people with toddlers. It keeps her occupied for a long time too which is always a plus when you have a busy 2 year old.

Very interesting book that I read it myself! (I'm an adult!) Loved the detailed drawings and text. A large book. Didn't realize the size of it, so happy to see it is big and hardcover. Makes a great gift.

Don't buy this for your daughters...or sons

It seems to be "the engineer" and "the mommy," the coal worker and "the mommy," the doctor and "the mommy"...
this seriously needs an update. Female characters are not just mommies. I'd never give this to my kid, it's a really poor example and totally inaccurate way of explaining to little kids what people "do all day."

My daughter chose this in a book store and having never heard of it bought it for her. It’s extemely sexist and it infuriates me that she enjoys reading it. I have thrown it out and replaced with “she persisted” by Chelsea Clinton