These books have characters who have unusual professions. Kids typically know the professions that their parents have and ones that they encounter regularly and are easily visible in society, like teachers, doctors, policemen, people who work in stores, etc. The characters in these books do things that are a little more unusual or that are less visible than other professions. I’ve also included stories with kids who aspire to more unusual careers.
There are special sections for non-fiction books about unusual careers and historical careers. The non-historical books are set during the 20th and 21st centuries and feature professions that still exist in modern times.
Advertising
The Secret Life of the Underwear Champ (1981)
Larry is surprised when he is suddenly offered a part in a series of tv commercials, and then horrified when he finds out that he’s going to be advertising underwear. Funny! By Betty Miles.
Dollmakers and Doll Hospital Owners
Katy Comes Next (1959)
Ruth’s parents own a doll hospital, but because they are often busy, Ruth’s doll Katy gets neglected. Finally, Ruth’s parents realize that they need to make Katy a priority, and she gets the attention she deserves.
Innkeepers and Hotel Keepers
The Haunted Hotel (1989)
Laura and Bill are visiting their Uncle Joe, who is the caretaker of a large hotel in New Hampshire. The hotel is closed for the winter, but the children investigate the ghost who supposedly haunts it and may have their uncle under her spell. By Janet Adele Bloss.
A girl staying with her grandmother at her bed-and-breakfast investigates the theft of letters written by Mark Twain.
Museum Curator
The Court of the Stone Children (1973)
A lonely girl who loves museums encounters a ghost who needs her help to learn the truth about the past.
Amy goes to Taboga Island, off the coast of Panama, with her aunt for the summer and finds a mystery involving a lost painting.
The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline (1983)
Caroline comes to believe that the new man in her apartment building, who seems interested in her mother, may actually be a murderer. Caroline wants to be a paleontologist, and she is friends with a man who works at a natural history museum.
Nun
Nuns, both historical and modern, have other jobs in addition to their status as nuns, such as teacher.
Lottery Rose (1976)
Georgie, an abused boy, wins a rose bush in a lottery, and it comforts him when he is taken away from his abusive mother to start a new life at a boarding school.
Twenty and Ten (1952)
A group of French school children hide Jewish children from the Nazis during World War II. By Claire Bishop.
Series
About a girl whose parents are divorced and the changes in her family. The girl attends a Catholic school and has a teacher who is a nun. By Jeanne Betancourt. 1983-1990.
Physical and Developmental Therapists
These are people who help people with injuries and disabilities.
Mystery at Camp Triumph (1986)
A girl who has recently lost her vision struggles to find the people who are sabotaging the camp for disabled children where she has been learning to cope with her new blindness. The people who work at the camp teach her techniques that will help her to lead a more ordinary life and take part in activities that she loves.
Tailor
The Purple Coat (1986)
Gabby decides that she wants something different and unusual for her new coat this year.
University Professor
University professors have duties beyond just teaching. They are also researchers, writers, keepers of artifacts and special collections, and other roles that teachers at lower levels don’t.
A brother and sister move to Maine with their father, where he is put in charge of a collection of Egyptian artifacts at a small college. They are soon confronted with a mystery concerning the mummy in the collection.
Non-fiction
Careers in Historical Fiction
Some of these professions no longer exist, and some of them have changed dramatically over time. I have categories listed by time period and a few by profession.
Prehistory
The Time of the Forest (1988)
In the prehistory of Denmark, hunter-gatherers clash with new settlers, and one young couple begins forging a new society. By Tom McGowen.
Middle Ages
The Puppeteer’s Apprentice (2003)
A young girl in Medieval England discovers her destiny as a puppeteer. By D. Anne Love.
Feudal Japan
The Master Puppeteer (1975)
A boy in feudal Japan joins a puppet theater and makes startling discoveries about a local folk hero. By Katherine Paterson.
Series
The adopted son of a famous judge helps him to solve mysteries in feudal Japan. Not a series for young children! By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. 1999-2014.
18th Century
The Ravenmaster’s Secret (2003)
The son of the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London befriends a young prisoner, the daughter of a Jacobite rebel, who is due to be executed and must decide if he is willing to risk himself to save her. By Elvira Woodruff.
This book not only explains what the Ravenmaster does and how his son trains to follow his profession, but also talks about other jobs, like chimney sweep.
19th Century
The Cuckoo Clock (1987)
A young orphan boy in 19th century Germany finds his destiny when he is apprenticed to an elderly clockmaker.
Lyddie (1991)
Her father’s absence and her mother’s illness force young Lyddie to seek her fortune as a factory worker during the 1840s. By Katherine Paterson.
Early 20th Century
These are occupations that don’t exist anymore or have changed radically in modern times.
A pair of twins star in a silent movie serial during World War I and learn that their father’s death was due to war-related sabotage, not an accident. The book explains some of the techniques used in making silent movies.
Mailing May (1997)
A young girl in 1914 wants to go visit her grandmother, but her family can’t afford the train ticket . . . until they realize that they can afford for her to travel as mail. Based on a true story. By Michael O. Tunnell.
The girl’s cousin works in the mail car of a train, which gives him the idea of how to help the girl reach her grandmother.
The Unbreakable Code (1996)
When John’s mother remarries, and he learns that he has to move, John’s grandfather tells him about his time as a code talker during World War II and gives him a sense of identity that he can carry with him to his new home.
Circus Performer
Sawdust in His Shoes (1950)
When Joe’s father is killed in an accident, he is forced to leave the circus life that he loves, but he still longs to return to it and has to decide what kind of life he really wants to live. By Eloise Jarvis McGraw.
Series
During the early 1900s, a famous tightrope walker, Bellini, loses his nerve when a fellow tightrope walker makes a mistake and falls to his death. Living in a French boarding house, Bellini struggles with his fear, believing that he will never again be able to walk a tightrope. Unexpectedly, he becomes friends with Mirette, the young daughter of his landlady. She becomes his protege and helps him to regain his courage.
Pseudo-Historical Fiction
These are stories that take place in made-up places at indeterminate times, but I included some of them here because they refer to real professions.
The Whipping Boy (1986)
A bored and bratty prince runs away with his whipping boy and learns lessons in friendship and responsibility. By Sid Fleischman.
Historical Non-Fiction
Some of these are grouped by time period and some by type of job.
Medieval
Cathedral (1973)
The story of the construction of a Medieval cathedral. The story takes place in a fictional town in France, Chutreaux, but it is based on the construction of real Medieval cathedrals. By David Macaulay.
The King’s Fool (1993)
This is a non-fiction book about fools and jesters throughout history. By Dana Fradon.
18th Century
This book explains about craftsmen in Colonial America and how they learned and practiced their trades.
Going to School in 1776 (1973)
This book was about schools and subjects that children would study around the beginning of the American Revolution. It also talks about apprenticeships and other types of education and what it was like to grow up in Colonial America. This is related to careers because it explains how young people trained for their future lives. By John J. Loeper.
19th Century
About 19th century general stores and the role they played in their communities.
Early 20th Century
Cheaper By the Dozen (1948)
These are the real reminiscences of children from the Gilbreth family about their unusual childhoods during the 1910s and 1920s. Mr. Gilbreth was an efficiency expert, and he applied the principles of efficiency to the running of his large household.
Chimney Sweeps
Chimney Sweeps (1982)
The history and traditions of chimney sweeps, including child chimney sweeps.
Craftspeople
Bells (1970)
A children’s nonfiction book about the history of bells and bellmakers and legends and superstitions about them. By Elizabeth Starr Hill, illustrated by Shelly Sacks.
The Little Indian Pottery Maker (1955) and The Little Indian Basket Maker (1957)
Young girls from different Native American tribes learn traditional crafts from their families. By Ann Nolan Clark.
Pirates and Privateers
Pirates were/are outlaws. Privateers did almost the same thing, but with the permission of their country, as long as their victims were from rival nations. It was a job, of a sort.
The Best Book of Pirates (2002, 2006)
Children’s non-fiction picture book about pirates in world history.
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Pirate’s Prisoner! (2002)
About the terrible things that 18th century pirates could do to their prisoners. By John Malam.
Sailors
Meet the Men Who Sailed the Seas (1966)
About early sailors and famous explorers. By John Dyment.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 