Book Nook: What Will You Do, My Deer?

So many kids get asked: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" For some kids, they've always wanted to be a teacher, or firefighter, or police officer. Other times, the answer a kid gives morphs into a different career - from movie star to stage manager, from astronaut to science teacher, from artist to graphic designer. Sometimes, what we want to do even as adults changes: I started college with the idea of being a pediatrician and now teach multiple subjects; my husband was going to teach music and does IT instead, my in-laws were theatre majors who became a daycare provider and an electrician, and my father was an art major who is now a toolroom supervisor.

Maybe the focus shouldn't be so much on a career aspiration, but rather on a set of values or an idea of constantly striving to be the best we can be wherever we are, whether it's the final stop on a journey or somewhere on the way. I got to review a book by Kathryn Hast, What Will You Do, My Deer?, that explores the possibilities for not just “becoming something,” but also, for doing something—for doing something good. 

The book reflects career exploration, adventure, growth, development, and more. It's a great story to start little kids dreaming about what they can be, but also remind older kids (and even adults) that there's always a need for a sense of wonder, progress, and love.

            The author, a mother of two young children and MFA in writing, wrote the children’s book in one sitting, after a frustrating (adult) day at work. Teaming up again with the ever-talented illustrator, L.M. Phang, Hast’s third release is a bit divergent from her first two works. While familiar illustrations from Otis Grows and Batty Betty are peppered throughout,What Will You Do, My Deer? shines the spotlight this time much more on the reader, encouraging questions, imagination, and dreams.

“It dawned on me when I was writing it—in a hotel room after a terrible conference—that the question of ‘What will I be when I grow up?’ is omnipresent for all of us,” Hast says, “And that the answer ultimately is: It doesn’t matter.” What Will You Do, My Deer? is a kid’s book that reminds us all that it’s not about any one profession or career path; it’s about having the courage to be “curious and kind.”

Kathryn Hast has a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in writing and a Master’s degree in Education. She is from York, Pennsylvania, and she lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband and two children. She has one dog named after a Beatles song, and one that barks at the television.

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What Will You Do, My Deer? can be purchased from www.lujubooks.com and Amazon.