What Do Scientists Do All Day?

Jane Wilsher's What Do Scientists Do All Day? is a busy, fact-filled tour for 6 year olds that introduces more than a hundred people who use science in their jobs.

What happens

The book takes your child to fourteen different places. There's a nature reserve, a hospital, a museum, an Arctic research station, mission control, an observatory, the planning of a brand-new city and lots more. At each one you meet eight scientists at work.

Each scientist gets a few short lines in their own voice. "I am a VOLCANOLOGIST." "I am a MIDWIFE." "I study EARTHQUAKES." Then they tell you what they actually do all day, in words a six-year-old can follow.

The best bit is how wide it goes. Of course there are astronauts, doctors and vets. But there's also a plant librarian, a tree surgeon dangling in a harness, a perfume maker people call "the nose" and a polar bear expert who puts tags on bears to track them. Who knew there was a job just for studying mushrooms?

The little voices have plenty of personality too. The X-ray technician claims to be a magician who can see inside you. The traffic planner HATES traffic jams. And well-brushed teeth make the dentist's day.

It's also a spotting game. After each place, the book asks your child to go back and find all eight scientists in the busy scene, which gives it a lovely second life after the first read.

It starts with a simple idea worth hearing young. Scientists ask questions, try things out and often get it wrong before they get it right. A child who's been told off for a failed experiment in the kitchen might find that quite reassuring!

It's American in places (math, center, moms), which you might want to read round. There's also a useful safety line about never picking or eating wild mushrooms.

This is perfect for the child who wants to know what everyone's job is, or who's already announced they'll be an astronaut and a vet at the same time. Dip into one place a night, or read it cover to cover.

What to read next

If this one sparks questions, Ada Twist and the Disappearing Dogs puts a young scientist on a mystery. Pets are vanishing all over town, and while her friends blame a robot or aliens, Ada wants the facts first.