Steady Hands: Poems About Work [Hardcover]

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 2009 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

In this collection of free-verse poems, inspired by Walt Whitman's I Hear America Singing, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer celebrates workers and the doing of work. The poems are short and direct, with strong, fresh images, and readers can easily imagine themselves in the roles she portrays: welder, librarian, surgeon, retail clerk, camp counselor. The illustrations are as original as the text---amazing multilayered collages made of paper, found objects, ephemera, photographs, dried flowers, and archival images. Steady Hands is sure to inspire discussion, creative writing, art projects, and new answers to the old question: What do you want to do when you grow up?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Inventive, complicated collages and well-crafted poems focus on the activities of working people in this eye-catching book. With an observant eye, Zimmer (Sketches from a Spy Tree) captures different individuals performing work with steady hands. She details the flap/ roll/ flap of the baker kneading dough or the way a clerk performs a ballet/ of hands as she sorts, scans and bags groceries. Sometimes she gives the worker a backstory or views him after hours—a former lawyer prefers the predictable company of dogs and becomes a dog walker, while the exterminator doesn't mind the guys at the bowling alley calling him Roach. Halsey and Addy's (Amelia to Zora) hip collages combine individual cut-outs of people along with drawings, photos, textured backgrounds and designs. The aspiring filmmaker pops out of a box of movie popcorn while the tow-truck driver fishes in the city, literally reeling in cars. The sophisticated look should generate plenty of interest from the target audience. Ages 9–12. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

From teacher, artist, and programmer to tow-truck driver, cafeteria cook, and surgeon, people at work are the subjects of every short, free-verse poem in this picture-book collection. The lively mixed-media illustrations, with spacious collage, show what workers do on the job. As in the book’s title, the focus is on the busy hands: the baker’s hands “disappear / and reappear / in the folds of dough”; “flowers burst from the palms of the florist.” A few pages glimpse the world of grownups, as with the gloomy dog-walker, once part of a law firm, now glad that “a dog’s mess / can be cleaned up.” Several are about young people at work babysitting, at computers, or at the grocery store. The hands-on details blend dreams and realism in the upbeat, contemporary poems that will find a place across the curriculum. Grades 4-7. --Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; First edition. edition (February 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618903518
• ISBN-13: 978-0618903511
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 10.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer is an award-winning children's author who graduated from The Ohio State University and attained her master's degree at Miami. Currently, she teaches at her alma mater in the Lakota Local School District near Cincinnati, Ohio. Writing in a variety of genres from historical fiction and poetry to novels-in-verse, Tracie's six books have received critical acclaim including starred reviews as well as the Schneider Family Book Award. In addition, Tracie has created hundreds of guides for children's and young adult literature that are available for free on her blog. She has presented at NCTE, IRA and ALA as well as schools and conferences across the country inspiring teachers, librarians and students with her infectious passion for literacy.


Oddball facts/favorite things:

Someday I'll move to Brooklyn, NY or a remote Caribbean island.
Individually wrapped Ghiradelli milk chocolate caramels.
Revision over the blank page.
My first journal entry: December 24, 1978.
Buckeye football Saturdays
Movies with puffy dresses and men on moors
Louie, the world's largest collie and Mickey, the six-fingered cat
Poet: Mary Oliver
I wish I could sing, draw, or play the cello
Snow days

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely and unusual poetry collection!, March 27, 2009

By 

Laura Purdie Salas (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steady Hands: Poems About Work (Hardcover)

What a terrific glimpse into people's working life. From Janitor to Babysitter, Organizer to Surgeon, this collection takes jobs and shines a light on them, making you see them in a new way. Tow Truck Driver as fisherman? Welder as a knight in shining armor? Cafeteria Cook as parent by proxy? Cool!

And jobs common to teens, like Retail Clerk, Grocery Store Clerk, and Babysitter, are featured here, too. What a great way to help teens see themselves as part of the larger world of careers.

This is no career guidebook, but it's a fabulous introduction to careers both exotic and mundane. After reading "Grocery Store Clerk," "1 Lifting/2 scanning/3 sorting/bagging.../each day/a ballet/of hands," who would look at the cashier the same way next time?

Zimmer's poems are concise and accessible. Some are funny and some are serious, but all are satisfying. Amazon lists it as for ages 9-12, but to me, I think kids 12 and up will get even more out of it!

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful Poems, May 3, 2011

By 

aneducationinbooks "wjbd" (Kentwood, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steady Hands: Poems About Work (Hardcover)

Thirty-five insightful poems, flanked by "Morning" and "Night", take us into the lives of workers who do more than what the average observer sees. Tracy Vaughn Zimmer shows us a janitor who "senses all the secret wishes a building whispers in the night" and a baker whose "hands disappear and reappear in the folds of dough." We see the lawyer turned dog-walker and the teacher whose heaviest burdens are "a lesson that knotted understanding, a bright kid who refuses to be inspired, flames of words thrown in frustration." There's a film maker, who for now serves popcorn at the theater, and a kid who rides a tricycle but one day will work on the planes that soar above him.

Mixed media collages by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy are fabulous, and may be the inspiration for picking up the book, but the words will keep you coming back.

5.0 out of 5 stars Many of these poems are quite quirky, original and downright ZANY!, June 24, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Steady Hands: Poems About Work (Hardcover)

What kind of hands do you have? Perhaps you have been thinking about what your hands will be doing when they grow up. Hands are meant to do many special things and yours are no different. Are they steady enough to be a surgeon or creative enough to be an artist or filmmaker? Maybe they are destined to join a trade and aid an electrician or a welder. Wherever your ambition takes you in life, your hands will be ready to serve you. In this book, one that wishes you a good "morning" as it opens and a good "night" when it closes, its free verse will help you think about what you'll want to do.

Jobs and professions to think about include a fisherman, a baker, a flower market owner, a tow truck driver, a sheriff's deputy, an electrician, a welder, an organizer, a writer, an artist, a cafeteria cook, an exterminator, a retail clerk, a personnel administrator, a lifeguard, a teacher, a surgeon, a grocery store clerk, a librarian, a ballet instructor, a flight attendant, a dog walker, a park ranger, a bank teller, an administrative assistant, a florist, a mail carrier, an entrepreneur, a filmmaker, a waiter, a janitor, a babysitter, a programmer and a camp counselor. There are a lot of things to think about and you may have chosen one on this list or are considering something altogether different. Time and your talented hands will tell!

DOG WALKER

They say

the neighborhood dog walker

suffered a nervous breakdown,

walked away from a partnership

in a law firm downtown.

Truth was:

The predictable company of dogs

with their soulful eyes

and eager affection

didn't' give him nightmares

or cold sweats

the way standing before

a glowering judge and jury did.

Besides,

a dog's mess

can be cleaned up.

This book dribbles a dose of reality within its pages. Many of these poems are quite quirky, original and downright ZANY! I loved the one about "Bug-Bee-Gone's owner [who] hit the Powerball," retired and when the new owner took over he was nicknamed "Roach" by his pals at the bowling alley. The "mixed media" art work will appeal to some people, but not all. If you want to check out a possible occupation or take a humorous look at some of others check out this book!