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Books in So you want to be... series

  • I Want to Be an Engineer

    Stephanie Maze

    Hardcover (Harcourt Children's Books, Sept. 1, 1997)
    Various careers are explored, including civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering as well as robotics and animatronics, which creates many of the special effects used in movies.
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  • You Wouldn't Want to Be a Convict Sent to Australia

    Meredith Costain

    Paperback (Scribblers, Nov. 17, 2016)
    You are an 18th-century convict faced with a fate potentially worse than death: to be sent to one of the new English colonies in Australia, where you will face hardship, isolation and great danger at the razor edge of colonial enterprise. "You Wouldn't Want To Be" is a constantly-growing library of exciting titles which transport the reader to the grisliest times and places in history. The first-person narrative approach puts the reader in the shoes of some of the most unfortunate people ever to have lived. Humorous cartoon-style illustrations bring the characters to life, while informative captions explain processes or chronological events.
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  • I Want to Be a Musician

    Dan Liebman

    Paperback (Firefly Books, Sept. 6, 2003)
    The I Want to Be... series gives young children a realistic insight into the working day of adults. Easy-to-read captions and color photographs of women and men from different cultures help children understand what's involved in each occupation. Young readers learn to respect the importance of doing a job well and appreciate the contributions these workers make to our life and the world around us. These books are perfect for reading alone or in group story times. They are certain to spark questions and encourage dialogue and prompt children to learn more about these occupations. I Want to Be a Musician is a behind-the-scenes look at the professional musicians who compose and perform the live and recorded music we hear everyday.
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  • You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice

    Fiona MacDonald

    Paperback (Scribblers, Nov. 17, 2016)
    You are a young man from a noble family in Mexico. Little do you suspect that you are about to fall victim to one of the most powerful South American civilisations and become an Aztec sacrifice! The topics covered in this book include beliefs and attitudes of the Aztecs to life and death and the geography of the area in which the Aztecs lived. "You Wouldn't Want To Be" is a constantly-growing library of exciting titles which transport the reader to the grisliest times and places in history. Humorous cartoon-style illustrations bring the characters to life, while informative captions explain processes or chronological events.
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  • You Wouldn't Want to Work in a Victorian Mill!

    John Malam

    Paperback (Book House, March 10, 2016)
    The year is 1842, and you have been taken from your mother in London to work in a cotton mill in smoky Manchester. The work is hard and dangerous: you are likely to go deaf and suffer from lung disease, and you could easily lose limbs. Is there no hope for you? Will things ever get better? Will you see your mother again? The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters, aiding their understanding of what life would have been like for workers in a Victorian Mill. Informative captions, a complete glossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers.
  • You Wouldn't Want to Be Cleopatra!: An Egyptian Ruler You'd Rather Not Be

    Jim Pipe, David Antram

    Paperback (Franklin Watts, March 1, 2007)
    Humorous text and illustrations describe what life must have been like for the Egyptian princess, describing how she had to rule a kingdom, protect her throne from her brother, Ptolemy, and woo Roman invaders.
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  • I Want to Be a Nurse

    Dan Liebman

    Paperback (Firefly Books, March 3, 2001)
    The I Want to Be... series gives young children a realistic insight into the working day of adults. Easy-to-read captions and color photographs of women and men from different cultures help children understand what's involved in each occupation. Young readers learn to respect the importance of doing a job well and appreciate the contributions these workers make to our life and the world around us. These books are perfect for reading alone or in group story times. They are certain to spark questions and encourage dialogue and prompt children to learn more about these occupations.
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  • I Want to Be a Builder

    Dan Liebman

    Paperback (Firefly Books, Sept. 1, 2003)
    The I Want to Be... series gives young children a realistic insight into the working day of adults. Easy-to-read captions and color photographs of women and men from different cultures help children understand what's involved in each occupation. Young readers learn to respect the importance of doing a job well and appreciate the contributions these workers make to our life and the world around us. These books are perfect for reading alone or in group story times. They are certain to spark questions and encourage dialogue and prompt children to learn more about these occupations. I Want to Be a Builder shows the diversity of skills of the professionals who chose to make construction their career.
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  • You Wouldn't Want To Be Mary, Queen of Scots!

    David Antram (illustrator) Fiona Macdonald

    Paperback (Book House, Sept. 20, 2018)
    None
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  • Roman Soldier, A

    Fiona Macdonald

    Library Binding (21st Century, April 1, 1999)
    Uses the process of applying for the position of soldier to present information about life in ancient Rome
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  • You Wouldn't Want to Be Guy Fawkes!

    Fiona MacDonald

    Paperback (Scribblers, Nov. 17, 2016)
    As Catholic conspirator and would-be assassin Guy Fawkes, you'll witness the secretive planning and thwarted execution of the infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 at first-hand. Plunge into a morally-murky world of political intrigue, persecution and religious extremism not so very far away from our own..."You Wouldn't Want To Be" is a constantly-growing library of exciting titles which transport the reader to the grisliest times and places in history. The first-person narrative approach puts the reader in the shoes of some of the most unfortunate people ever to have lived. Humorous cartoon-style illustrations bring the characters to life, while informative captions explain processes or chronological events.
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  • You Wouldn't Want to Be in the Great Fire of London

    Pipe Jim

    Paperback (Book House, March 10, 2016)
    As if the plague wasn't bad enough, here comes the fiery antidote! As famous diary-keeper Samuel Pepys, you'll witness four days and four nights of fire and live to tell the tale. Find out how people lived in the London of 1666, how they coped in the aftermath and all importantly, whodunnit! - or at least who we think dunnit! "You Wouldn't Want To Be" is a constantly-growing library of exciting titles which transport the reader to the grisliest times and places in history. The first-person narrative approach puts the reader in the shoes of some of the most unfortunate people ever to have lived. Humorous cartoon-style illustrations bring the characters to life, while informative captions explain processes or chronological events.
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