What we wear when we take care

Safety equipment such as hard hats, helmets, and noise-canceling headphones take center stage in this dynamic picture book, which begins by asking, "What do we wear when we take care?" Each page features children or adults of various genders, skin colors, and abilities engaging in activities that require protective gear, whether those activities be construction work, skateboarding, or fighting fires. Finan explains in simple language why each piece of equipment is used and provides examples in different contexts -- first on the job, then with a scene from a kid's perspective. One double-page spread states, "Sometimes we wear goggles to protect our eyes from things that fizz, spark," and features goggle-clad chemists and a welder at work. A page-turn shows two children snorkeling: "splish, or splash." The action words used throughout the book are mostly in bold black type. A section on wearing masks "to protect from germs" depicts medical professionals and a school bus where most of the children are masked. The hand-painted, digitally colored illustrations are full of movement and primarily feature shades of blue with yellow as a vibrant accent color. The book ends with the question, "What do YOU wear to take care?" and an illustration showing three kids in protective garb. A fine introduction to the many ways we can stay safe. Marva Anne HintonSeptember/October 2024 p.99 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A primer on goggles, helmets, and other safety equipment. "What do we wear when we need to take care?" asks Finan. Using minimal text and vibrant art, she explains that "sometimes we wear helmets to protect our heads in case things clatter, clonk, bump, or crash!" Action verbs are large and bold against backdrops of helmeted adults doing construction work and helmeted children using skateboards and other vehicles--including a wheelchair--at a skateboard park. The child who's just fallen off a bike is obviously not badly hurt, and the other characters are smiling and cheery. The text continues with other safety gear: "headphones to protect our ears from sounds that boom, rumble, bang, or whiz," "goggles to protect our eyes from things that fizz, spark, splish, or splash," and "masks to protect from germs when we ahhh, achoo, cough, and chatter." Finan's minimal yet energetic text conveys information effectively; it's easy to imagine preschoolers acting out the text, using safety equipment as props. For each piece of equipment, we see adults and children alike at work and at play. Dynamic hand-painted, digitally colored art uses a pleasing palette of neon yellow and multiple shades of blue. People depicted are diverse; laudably, we see adults of color in a variety of jobs, from beekeeper to doctor to firefighter. Rudimentary information in a perfect package. (Informational picture book. 2-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.