Work and More Work

Tom lives in the countryside in the mid 1800s, and he’s curious — what is it like in the town, the city, and the world beyond? It’s all “work and more work,” everyone tells him. Determined to find out for himself, Tom sets off with a bit of bread and cheese in a bundle . . . He encounters crowded marketplaces, bustling wharves, and storms on the high seas. In China he sees how tea is made; in India he watches men make deep blue dye from indigo; in Ceylon he marvels at the skill of cinnamon peelers. Eventually he returns home with stories and gifts, showing his parents the riches to be found all over the world. This wonderful book includes an illustrated afterword about the different kinds of work mentioned in the story, work that was done when, in the days before steam, nothing moved except through the power of wind, water, and muscle.

Linda Little is a short story writer and novelist. She has won the Cunard First Book Award, the Lilla Stirling Memorial Award, the Dartmouth Book Award, and the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. She teaches composition and the literature of Atlantic Canada at Dalhousie University. This is her first picture book. She lives in River John, Nova Scotia. Óscar T. Pérez has illustrated a number of children’s books with his distinctive style, and they have been published in Spain, France, and Brazil. His work also appears in newspapers, advertising, and animation. He lives in Valladolid, Spain.