by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 28, 2010

Day laborers? They're hard-working and underpaid - and there's a mystery about their life story. But I still never thought I'd see it in the watercolors of a children's book. That's what Eve Bunting takes on in her 1994 story, A Day's Work. "Francisco stood in the parking lot with his grandfather and the other men..."

Five men jump into a pick-up truck, but only three are needed, and two return to the parking lot, grumbling and shuffling round. "Hace frio," shivers Francisco's grandfather. And Francisco speaks in Spanish too, though Bunting translates what he's saying. "It is cold because it is still early. It will be hot later, you will see..."

Gradually Bunting reveals details about the life of the family. The boy's father has just died. And his grandfather doesn't speak English. But the grandfather came to California to get work and help the family. The boy will translate English words for his grandfather...

Francisco wears an L.A. Lakers hat. The next man seeking laborers wears a Laker's cap too. Francisco convinces him to hire his grandfather. Together they get into the van, and head off for a gardening job - pulling weeds from a vast hillside.

It's exciting to see a children's story that's taken from the real world. Eve Bunting is capturing the magic in a moment, offering poignant details of each scene from a child's perspective. And for illustrations, there's gentle water colors of real-life settings around Los Angeles. Artist Ronald Himler has illustrated other books with Bunting, including "Someday a Tree" and the historical story, "Train to Somewhere". But for this book, he's signaling the end of the day with an L.A. sunset - soft peach and brown streaks in the sky.

An orange cat prowls the hillside, and a little poodle barks through the railings above - "Yap, yap, yap." They hear voices coming from a nearby swimming pool. And Francisco thinks of how proud his mother will be at the money they've earned today. Unfortunately, they've mistakenly pulled out every plant from the hillside - and left behind nothing but weeds.

It's a dramatic moment, as Francisco explains to his grandfather why the man who hired them is shouting. But the grandfather is an honest man, and they offer to return tomorrow - on a Sunday - to work for no charge to repair the mistake. Francisco feels responsible, since he'd claimed his grandfather was an expert gardener. But the man who hired them is impressed by the grandfather's honesty, saying that "The important things your grandfather knows already."

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