Children’s TV script writer Tracey Hammett has written her second picture book, this time focusing on the theme of professions.
In this story we meet Bob the dog, who always likes to have a job. One sunny day Bob gets a job selling ice creams at the local park, but when she runs out of cones and the ice-cream nozzle sticks, Bob has to think quickly to save the day.
Tracey was inspired to write the story by her own rescue dog’s love of ice-cream vans, saying, ‘When I was a child, I was always excited when I heard the tinkly sound of an ice-cream van coming down the street. Then, years later, as an adult, I had a lovely rescue dog who used to join the queue whenever we passed an ice-cream van in the park. That’s how I got the idea that Bob could work in an ice-cream van.’

Bob the Dog Gets a Job is a humorous tale of resilience and creative problem solving which also opens the door to conversations about less conventional career choices. The book also contains a list of skills and attributes good ice-cream salespeople need to have for discussion, making children think about skills needed for other careers.

The story is accompanied by fantastic artwork by Angie Stevens, who based the illustrations on Tracey’s local park, Brockwell Park.

Talking about her inspiration, Angie says, ‘The park is based on Brockwell Park in London, Tracey felt that it was a great example of an inner city park, with lots going on. The clock, the greenhouses, the Lido. It’s where people come to relax and eat lots of ice cream!’