What the Hell Are People Even Doing All Day?

By Ruben Bolling

A satirical picture book that uses the format of Richard Scarry's wholesome Busytown series to explore the ironies and injustices of modern-day life, work, and media. Parodying the soothing animal inhabitants of Richard Scarry's Busytown, Ruben Bolling takes a tour through the newest areas of employment available to our busy and productive citizens: from the fake news trolls to wall builders, dog whistlers to swamp drainers, one-percenters to content creators. In this clever send-up of the unwholesome new reality of the modern job market, laid out in full-color, fully illustrated dioramas, the syndicated cartoonist and political humorist of Tom the Dancing Bug gives us an update on the anthropomorphic construction workers and teachers of yore with anthropomorphic tax shelter builders and climate change deniers of today. This book is a perfect gift for multiple generations of readers who fell in love with Richard Scarry's orderly world --- as children, parents, or even babysitters --- and can chuckle at the distance between the world as we teach it to children and the one we see today. It is a political satire whose conditions won't be going anywhere soon; a send-up that is neither too cynical nor too na?ve. The perfect mixture of self-awareness, smarts, and quick gift-book one-liners, perfect for readers looking for an antidote to the endless election of 2020 and all the absurdities that show no signs of retreating regardless of its outcome.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541797817
• ISBN13: 9781541797819
• Release Date: June 2020
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 48 Pages