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Work, Work, Work

Yes, it’s a children’s book–but it’s not Ishmael for six-year-olds. As Daniel has said in reply to many queries about this, “The minds of small children don’t need changing. If they grow up in a household of changed minds, then they’ll automatically share their family’s view of the world and humanity’s place in it. If they grow up in a household of unchanged minds, THEN they’ll be ready to meet Ishmael!”

Work, Work, Work is a very special children’s book. It’s not designed for lulling kids to sleep or for passive listening while Mom or Dad reads and rereads the story to them. Each page is an invitation for kids (and parents alike) to participate in discovering and in a real sense creating their own experience of the story as it goes along!

Story summary

Work, Work, Work is the story of an industrious gopher whose lifework is to burrow from dawn to dusk under an enchanted land that he never sees.

While he grumbles about his unceasing labors, the morning sky is spray-painted from a dirigible (and the sun gets a drop of blue in its eye), two UFOs from different planets meet for a strange exchange, an enormous octopus-like creature (who has just come from laying waste to Las Vegas) is subdued by a barrage of hats, hotdogs, and toasters, and, at the close of day, a window opens at the horizon so that a purple giant can hang the moon in the sky. Surfacing in the twilight, the gopher sighs, “Well, at least something happened. I ran into a rock!”

Parents will find that Work, Work, Work, with its colorful and detailed illustrations by Daniel, is something different from the usual. It’s a book that brings readers and read-to together in a highly interactive entertainment, as kids discover and explain all the strange goings-on that take place while the mole snuffles along in oblivion underground.

As Daniel Fleischer, the seven-year-old to whom the book is dedicated, said during a walk in the woods with his father, “If we looked at the ground the whole time we’d be just like the mole in Work, Work, Work who missed all the amazing things in the sky.”

“My 3 year old son loves it and will get lasting value out of it as he ages. Right now he likes to see all the things
going on as the mole man goes about his daily drudgery. I like it because I get to expose him early on to an
important life lesson about tunnel vision and perception that will age well.
Heck, this book is good for me too. I only wish I’d had it younger when it could have made a bigger difference.”

Amazon Review

“In his Ishmael books, Quinn frequently teaches in parables, and this story is an excellent Quinn parable for children. It’s not a conventional kid story where everything’s fixed in the end – the “happy ending” of this book is when our children remind us after hearing it that there’s got to be more to life than work work work.”

Amazon Review

“I didn’t think my kids would like this book, because there are no action heroes or explosions. They loved it.
They actually slowed down long enough to study each page and take in everything that was going on.
Kids already live by this message – they understand the importance of play.

It is the adults who have a harder time giving up that little voice in our heads telling us to work harder,
buy more things, work harder, buy more things. I highly recommend this book, especially for all
the moms and dads out there missing out on life’s wonders.”

Amazon Review

“I was asked to read to the 4 and 5 year olds at my local day care/learning center. I read Work, Work, Work.
The kids and teachers were delighted. They didn’t take their eyes off of the pictures, and asked questions about them.
It was a success, and I made a gift of the book (I have 2 others) for their library when I left.”

Amazon Review

“I’ve shared this book with a number of fellow MBA in Sustainable Business grad students at
Bainbridge Graduate Institute. Their replies and insights are always interesting.

Without giving it away or providing my analysis of the story, I’ll just end the review with the question,
‘Why do we Work, Work, Work so darn much?'”

Amazon Review

“I had a great time reading Work, Work, Work – with all the great colors, glossy pages and those fabulous pictures!
The book is wonderful – what a lesson to share with children.
I am definitely going to share this with my nieces and nephews!”

Amazon Review