“When I Grow Up” – on future career paths such as snail trainer or giraffe milker and a reminder about children’s books
One of the advantages of being a parent is that you get to dive into fantastic visual stories – aka children’s’ books. Oh, how children’s books can take you places, open up thoughts and ideas and inspire – grown-ups too. Bedtime is one of my favorite times of the day.
Today, at a visit to my local Borders (which luckily isn’t among those closing down) this rainy Sunday in Northern California, I ran into this book by a very unexpected author – Al Yankovic (www.weirdal.com).
The story, with fun wordplay and rhythm, is about all the things you can be when you grow up, with funny illustrations by Wes Hargis. The book’s Billy considers a career as a snail trainer or a giraffe milker among others – but ends the story with reminding us that there are unlimited things you can do – and maybe do them all.
Next time you decide to stop by a local book store – don’t forget to head back to the children’s section (if you don’t have kids you can always pretend you’re picking up a gift) and browse through all those beautiful visualizations packing the shelfs. And who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to choose a new career.

