Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca (Atheneum, 2021, 40 pages, ages 4-8). A celebration of those workers who kept the city going when the rest of us spent the spring of 2020 inside due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Night Job by Karen Hesse, illustrated by G. Brian Karas Candlewick, 2018, 32 pages, ages 4-8). Every Friday night, a boy and his father spend the night cleaning a school, finally riding home on Dad’s motorcycle at 4:00 a.m. A quiet ode to some of the invisible workers around us.

The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins & Her New Deal for America by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Alexandra Bye (Atheneum, 2020, 48 pages, grades 2-6).Frances Perkins was a shy young woman who transformed from a social worker to a labor activist when she witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Later she became Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet.

Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States by J. Albert Mann (HarperCollins, 2024, 416 pages, grades 8-12) Low wages, long hours, wealth inequality, immigrants accused of “stealing” jobs: issues workers face today have in fact been around since the earliest days of United States history. This breezy but thoroughly researched account tells the painful story of American labor.

Whose Hands Are These? A Community Helpers Guessing Book by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell (Millbrook Press, 2016, 32 pages, ages 4-7). Rhyming text describes what the hands pictured do; turn the page to see who those hands belong to. A great introduction to community helpers and a chance for kids to think about the kind of work they might want to do someday.

The Paper Kingdom by Helena Ku Rhee, illustrated by Pascal Campion (Random House Books, 2020, 40 pages, ages 4-8). Another story of a boy whose parents work nights as cleaners. When Daniel’s babysitter cancels, he has to go to work with Mom and Dad. While they work, his parents tell him stories of kings, queens, and dragons, and assure him that he will be one of the rulers someday.

Brick by Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield (Nancy Paulsen Books, 32 pages, ages 4-8). A boy tells how his work at school parallels his father’s work as a bricklayer. They both dream about having a house of their own, and Papi’s hard work makes their dream come true.

Sincerely, Emerson: A Girl, Her Letters, and Helpers All Around Us by Emerson Weber, illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett (HarperCollins, 2020, 32 pages, grades K-4. Emerson Weber’s true story of how she wrote a thank-you letter to her mail carrier that ended up going viral, with postal workers everywhere appreciating the gratitude she expressed. Ends with her thoughts about the importance of thanking the workers around us whom we sometimes take for granted.

Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Loren Long (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2021, 48 pages, ages 4-8). The architects, engineers, and authors may have a vision, but it’s the builders, electricians, printers, and other workers who turn the dream into reality.

Mother Jones and Her Army of Children by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (Schwartz & Wade, 2020, 40 pages, grades 2-5). Mother Jones tells how her 1903 Children’s Crusade from Philadelphia to New York City started the movement to end child labor.