In the past, I've made a community helpers theme pack for preschool and kindergarten. A lot of community helper activities and printable books can be found on over 280 pages in this book. It took my preschooler and me a long time to read all of these books together.

A specific helper can be found by scrolling down until it comes up.

Enjoy!

General books about community helpers

Pig Pig Gets a Job, by David McPhail

If you haven't read a Pig Pig book, you need to get one from your library. Our favorite thing about this plucky pig is how excited he is. When he wants money to buy something, his mother tells him that he first needs to get a job. As a child, he has a lot of ideas about how to do things around the house. His mother gently turns each of these into a chore. This is what he will get paid for at the end of the book. This is a great story and the pictures are too funny not to laugh. This one was asked for a lot.

Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day, by Richard Scarry

Treasure: You could read this book all day and not see everything. They both loved it, even though we didn't read the whole thing at once. Check to see if you're getting the original 1960's version that comes with Scarry's original stories and art. I've sent you to the real thing.

Career Day, by Anne Rockwell

This is a cute book about a preschool class where the kids bring their parents to show off their jobs on Career Day. Some of us didn't think it was very realistic that there were so many different jobs in a single classroom (like a judge and a paleontologist). We still liked the pictures, though.

Worksong, by Gary Paulsen

People who write for Publishers Weekly call this book "a gentle rhyming hymn to the dignity of work." That description fits the book very well. The book doesn't say what the jobs are, but it describes them with beautiful oil paintings. It makes a lot of noise and makes you feel like you're being shaken, and the hammers flash in the light. (roofer) A worker at an ice cream shop says it's "ice cream cones that you can eat and wear." (hairdresser) As it turns out, my Three didn't like it. But it's a beautiful book that's worth a try!

Whose Hat Is This? by Sharon Katz Cooper

A favorite of my three-year-old, he liked to name the jobs based on the hat after we read it a few times and he knew them. Getting to know a lot of different people who work in the community is fun.

Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do, by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook

It was after we read all the other books in this post. By this point, my Three's vocabulary had grown a lot. He could name almost all of the community workers with a little help from their uniform and tools. This is a great book that all preschool teachers will want to have.

Work, by Ann Morris

This book is more about work and less about people who help their communities, but it's still a good match. Love how it shows work all over the world. You can read more about each picture on the back of the book, from a girl twisting wool into yarn in Mexico to a girl taking care of sheep in New Zealand.

Jobs People Do, by Thea Feldman

One page for each community helper has a few words about what they do. This book has a single page for each helper. They work to keep your town safe. It is the job of firefighters to put out fires A grocery store sells food for you and your family to eat at home. Nothing special, but it's a good way to learn about the unit because it talks about a lot of different people.

Even Firefighters Hug Their Moms, by Christine Kole Maclean

As the boy moves from one job to another, he has to change his name every few pages. This book is very sweet. He's Big Frank the firefighter, Officer Dave the policeman, Joe the EMT, and many other people, too. This clever little boy uses laundry baskets, the couch, stuffed animals, and other things to make things for his play. His mom always asks for a hug, but he's always too busy. She says, "Even firefighters, ambulance drivers, helicopter pilots, and so on all hug their moms." Her hug comes at the end.

 

Plumbers

Plumbers, by Carl Meister

When I saw this book on the shelf, I knew I had to have it. It was informative, had great photos, and was written in a way that was easy for me to read. My Five, a kindergartener, was able to read it all by himself, and my Three loved hearing it. Find the Bullfrog Books and keep an eye out for them. They're great!

Plumbers, by Tracey Boraas

If you want to learn a little more about this subject, this book is better than the one before it. Some of the pictures don't look very good. The book has a lot of good information in it. Their favorite thing to learn was about different types of plumbers, what they wear, where they work, and the tools they use.

We Need Plumbers, by Helen Frost

One thing plumbers do on each page is show how to put pipes together, put pipes in buildings, or fix pipes that leak in this great Pebble book.

Policeman Small, by Lois Lenski

This is a 1962 book that my three-year-old loved. In the book, Policeman Small is a traffic cop who tells which cars and people can cross the street. He keeps an eye on a parade, helps a little boy find his mother, and stops traffic so cats can drink milk that has spilled. When there's a lot of traffic, he brings his stop-go sign to show people where to go. It made me laugh a few times, and my Three asked for it a lot.

I Want to Be a Police Officer, by Dan Liebman

If you're a police officer, this book will show you how you can get around (on a motorcycle, on a bike, in a patrol car, and so on). There isn't really a story, but there are a lot of facts that don't connect from one page to the next. Some cops even get to ride horses. These police officers are looking for people in a public park. Police check cars and trucks to make sure they can be driven. If you read nonfiction to a child, you don't have to worry about them not being able to understand everything.

Little Critter Policeman, by Mercer Mayer

Little Critter is one of our favorite characters, and this book doesn't teach us a lot about what police officers do. But it's a cute story about him, and that's what counts. When he tries to do something, he usually ends up making things worse.

Keeping You Safe, by Ann Owen

By a long shot, I don't like this simple series. It's good for young preschoolers. Older people might enjoy the fun facts in the back and the glossary. I like the websites that are on the back of the page.

I’m Going to Be A Police Officer, by Edith Kunhardt

She wants to be like her dad and be a police officer like him. When we go to the police station, we learn about his uniform, getting fingerprinted, and the jail. Following her dad's day, we see what he does as a police officer. The photos are old, but it's a good story.

A Day in the Life of a Police Officer, by Linda Hayward

These are DK books. If you like Dorling Kindersley's other books, you might not like this one. Each book in the series ends with "He/she has the best job in the world." That can't be true for every job, so why include that line? I'm just picky, I think.

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