If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: How 25 inspiring individuals found their dream jobs

‘If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: How 25 Inspiring Individuals Found Their Dream Jobs’ by Colleen Nelson & Kathie MacIsaac, illustrated by Scot Ritchie, is the perfect book for anyone who wants to be inspired and learn more about a host of different career opportunities. The book lays out each person’s story very nicely, not only telling each person’s individual background and career aspirations, but also tips for how to work toward that job on one’s own, and also “spin-off jobs” that use similar skills, but are not quite the same as what the main person does.

It’s nice how the book provides practical tips and thoughts to encourage readers to delve deeper and learn not only about the people whose stories are told in the book, but about others who had similar dreams to learn how they were encouraged as well to pursue their interests.

From a marine biologist to a barber, a farmer, a smokejumper, an interior designer, an NHL scout, and even a professional video game player, among others, there is a career for everyone out there. Even if one’s dream job doesn’t come to fruition, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a job that somehow fits the mold of what one feels comfortable with and enjoys. The last few pages are pretty nice, talking about future dream jobs that are not so common now, as well as information about how to develop one’s skill set to ensure that a dream job doesn’t seem too out of reach. A glossary rounds out the book, ensuring that young readers know what each word throughout the book means. Definitely a must read for anyone who requires a little inspiration to push themselves toward their future.

In this well-formatted collective biography, nicely illustrated with Scot Ritche's full color, exuberant page decorations, we meet a variety of people who set out to pursue jobs from farming to teaching to writing books. There are common jobs that young readers may see in their every day lives, as well as more exotic occupations like stuntperson, clothing designers and mathematicians, as well as the holy grail of middle school careers, professional video game player! Each biography includes basic information about what encouraged the person to go into a particular field, "pro tips" on how to get into the field as well as tangential areas, "spin-off jobs" that are similar, and a short biography of a younger person who has already started the path to a similar career. I especially liked the "Why Not Try?" feature that might suggest a web site to visit, opportunities young people might avail themselves of, or activities to try to see if they have an interest in a topic. There are also fun facts and information about inspiring individuals and how they fought through challenges, like Dav Pilkey.

The people profiled are not necessarily all that well know, but are all involved in pursuits that suit their passions. There are many young people included, such as Amoy Antunet, who became interested in neuroscience at a young age, and Jessica Walker, who has saved many animals from horrific situations.