Mesodiplosis

Mesodiplosis (mes-o-dip-lo’-sis): Repetition of the same word or words in the middle of successive sentences.

“I’m Joey the garbage hauling man. See Joey lift your garbage can. Joey dumps your garbage it in the truck. Happy joey drives your garbage away, off to the landfill down by the bay where the seagulls circle and that rats play.”

The above is the opening paragraph to “Your Service Workers,” a children’s book designed to introduce children to “service workers.” Chapters include: “Sheriff Mary.” Mary tracks down thieves and murderers. There is “Bill the Crossing Guard.” He is a retired pizza delivery man whose beat is the crosswalk at the middle school. Bill is followed by “SGT. Tough” an airborne ranger in the Army who trains and waits for war. We can’t forget “Attorney Miles” who gets people off the hook, and has them beat the rap, Whether it’s income tax fraud or bankruptcy. Finally, there’s “Sally Social Worker.” Sally helps families in trouble, people on welfare or in need of other social services.

All in all, the books are boring and sterile renditions of the actual challenge service worker face and bravely cope with. For example, Sherif Mary’s dealing with school shooters is missing. Also, nothing is said about SGT, Tough’s actual experiences at war and how he cope with his PTSD after friends are KIA or seriously wounded.

At a cost of $75.00 for the set, “Your Service Workers” is hardly worth it. Until it becomes more graphic in depicting service work, “Your Service Workers” should be avoided. A better selection may be “What Do I Do?” It presents “work” as a kind of service. Everything from accountant to zookeeper is included, with detailed explanations of the various roles with examples and images.

Now that we have the big picture, I give “Your Service Workers” two thumbs down and urge to have a look at “What Do I Do?” It it cheaper $15.00) and more informative