When I Grow Up

This book deals with a question that all children ponder frequently which is what they will be when they grow up. In this story Billy shares with his class numerous scenarios of what he wants to be when he grows up. Some examples are a gorilla masseuse, rodeo clown, firefighter, teacher etc. The

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message at the end of the book is that his great-grandfather had many different careers and at the age of 103 he still is not quite sure what he wants to be. This book can help take the pressure off children so they can keep their options open.

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Quirky book with great illustrations. "When I Grow Up" is a story about wanting to be anything and everything, no matter how strange. This story sends the comforting message that it is okay not to know exactly what you want to be when you are older.

I received this book with Early Reviewers. Let me say that this is a fabulous and adorable book. I read it out loud and my fiance quickly became interested. Billy, a student, introduces kids to different kinds of jobs (some quite silly) during his show-and-tell time. His teacher finally asks him

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what he really is going to be since he is choosing so many different jobs and Billy replies that he might do them all.
I absolutely adore the illustrations in this book, as well as the rhyming patterns. My fourth grade students will LOVE this book.

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I received this hardcover through the Early Reviewers program on Lubrary Thing.

I immediately read it to my five year-old and we both cracked up throughout it. The pictures are delightful and the rhyme scheme is not unlike some favorite Dr. Seuss books (but with bigger words).
Occupations real and

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imagined fill this delightful tome. Giraffe Milker, it's in there. Gorilla Massuese, yup.
There was one double meaning line in the book that kids won't get... "Master Debator." This might be an occupation, but it is also a subversive James Bond-ian term. That is my sole complaint just because it made ME think of that.
Oh, and yes this is written by "Weird Al" Yankovic of Grammy award and pop song parody fame.

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I loved this book. I was not sure what to expect. It is very cute and kept the attention of my 5 year old.

Only parts of this book read like they were written by Weird Al, the others are spot on for a good "i dont know what i wanna be" story. The illustrations are also neat, following the jumping story pretty well. Has a Dr Seuss kinda feel when he starts adding outlandish jobs about half way through

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but manages not to go to far off that deep end and keep his own style. Overall well done,

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I loved reading this book. It made me think a bit of Dr. Seuss (the rhyming, the far-out professions), but I still loved the book. As a teacher I ask kids each year what they'd like to be when they grew up. Wouldn't it be great if they'd 'leave their options open' the way Billy did. I think it

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would be great to teach kids not only that they can be anything they want to when they grow up, but they can be many different things as well. This will be a yearly read-aloud in my classroom!

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I LOOOOOOVED this book! I laughed all the way through it. It was even more fun when my husband read it out loud to our family. It's cute to see Billy be creative with his ideas of what he wants to grow up. Even though they draw Mrs. Krupp (the teacher) as rather scary looking, you can see her

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patience with him throughout the book. I was particularly touched by the ending where he says that maybe he'll even grow up to be a great teacher like Mrs. Krupp. (I was 8 when I decided to be a teacher, just because I had an awesome teacher like Mrs. Krupp.)

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Show and Tell is such an exciting time for Billy. He has thought long and hard about what he wants to share when it is his turn during show and tell. This is such a cute story that has a wonderful rhythm to the text as you read it. It captures students attention and really gets them actively

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involved in listening to the story. My class loved this story.

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This book is about all the possibilities of what children can be when they grow up.

I loved this book! It combined basic vocabulary with words children might not hear every day.

Yankovic, Al. Illustrated by Wes Hargis. When I Grow Up. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2011

Characters: Billy; Mrs. Krupp (Billy’s teacher); Billy’s classmates

Setting: Billy’s classroom

Theme: future career choices; wild imaginations of children; dreaming big;

Genre: Children’s

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fiction; picturebook

Golden Quote: “See, I’m only eight now, so frankly I’m hopin’ you’ll cut me some slack if I leave options open. Let’s just wait and find out what my future brings-hey, I might have time to do all of those things!”
Summary: An exuberant eight-year-old details for his teacher and classmates the astonishing variety of inventive careers he is thinking of pursuing when he grows up.

Audience: Children ages 6-8

Curriculum ties: Why do people choose the careers/jobs they do?; training and education; compare and contrast realistic jobs to the imaginary jobs Billy’s mentions in the story; use the same rhyme schemes in the story to have students create poems about what they want to be when they go up

Awards: None

Personal response: While I think this story has an endearing quality to it with lots of gusto; I also felt some of the vocabulary should have been a bit more kid-friendly. Many of Mr. Yankovic’s word choices fit his rhyme scheme, but words like ‘hydraulic torque wrench calibrator’ or ‘hedge-fund investor’ is too over the top to use in a book for the developmental age this book is intended for. Although, there is a clear and consistent rhyming scheme, however, instead of the rhythm being playful and melodic in tone, they were more like complex tongue twisters. Not a great quality when doing a read aloud or for children reading it on their own. I do appreciate the efforts of the infamous Al Yankovic in his attempts to make a funny and lively children’s story, nonetheless my expectations fell short.

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This book is a great tool when teaching kids to keep their options open and think outside the box. It can also be used to get the imagination going.

I think this book adresses it is okay to not know what you want to be. A good moral and a good way to get kids thinking about their future.

Not sure if Weird Al is trying to channel Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein in this one, but he falls far short of emulating either.

My 4 year old loves this book. He enjoys both when I read it to him and when we have the audio track on the iTunes version with Al Yankovich reading along, hilarious. His voice is so animated and makes it a fun read anytime we pick this one up

My 4 year old loves this book. He enjoys both when I read it to him and when we have the audio track on the iTunes version with Al Yankovich reading along, hilarious. His voice is so animated and makes it a fun read anytime we pick this one up

The illustrations fit perfectly with this story of an 8-year-old boy named Billy, who has a laundry list of what he would like to become when he grows up.

In my opinion, this was a very cute book and one that I will have in my classroom library in the future. I liked the book for two reasons. First, the plot was organized and the pace increased at the right times then calmed down. It's typical for a young child to want to work in many different

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professions and have different jobs when they grow up, just like the little boy, Billy, did in the book. Billy started off with usual jobs like a chef. Then, his imagination and creativity were in full swing. This is where the plot’s pace increased. He wanted to become a gorilla masseuse, smelly pit-sniffer deodorant tester or a sidewalk sign waver! Second, the point of view was appropriate and fit the book. The book was written in first person with Billy saying, “I want to be…” If the author had written in third person it would have been a dull book. Hearing what Billy wants to be when he gets older from him himself is much more exciting than the author telling us what Billy wants to be. The overall message of the book is that there is no one cookies cutter job for everyone. Just like in every other way, everyone shares different hobbies, likes, dislikes, talents and skills. Therefore, not everyone will enjoy or be successful at all jobs. Also, there is a message that not all children wake up and know what they want to be when they grow up or do with their lives. Some children grow up always wanting to be a teacher or a fire fighter, that's great. Some of us go through school and graduate high school not knowing what we want to do, which is okay too and shouldn't be looked down upon. Just like little Billy put lots of thought into his options, there are numerous aspects to take into consideration when choosing a profession.

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At first Billy explains that he will be the best chef in France and create all kinds of new cuisine. Then talks about how he will be a snail trainer. Or maybe he will be lathe operator or maybe make a living by milking giraffes. He has many more plans that might include a gorilla masseuse, a

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sculptor of chocolate muse, rodeo clown. He goes through many jobs that rhyme with the one before no matter how silly. His grandfather worked many jobs and he is 103 and he still does not know what he does not know what he wants to be. He says he might just have time to all of those things and he is young enough for it to be ok that he does not know. They all then went to lunch and he continued to think about what he could be, maybe even a great teacher like his own. The genre of When I Grow Up is realistic fiction.

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Cute and fun

As might be expected from a musician the words in this story rolled off the tongue like a easy song. The contents are silly and sweet. My son says it is "super good! " The art is also nicely detailed and varied.

I am always leery of celebrity types who decide they now want to write children's books. In a market that is hard enough for unknown yet good authors to get noticed, can't these people just have a ghost writer produce their memoir? But this is Weird Al. You never quite know what you're going to get

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from him, so I had to give this a try. What I discovered is a fun to read story about a boy who is asked the big question: What do you want to be when you grow up? He answers with a list of career options that vary from award winning chef to giraffe milker to hedge fund investor. Most kids will have no idea what most of these careers are -- but this school librarian sees this as a great opportunity to practice research skills and explore! Illustrations are as colorful and fun as the text.

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