Hello, Real World!

Middle Grade Career

Exploration Starts Here!

What can I be when I grow up?

What can I be when I grow up? •

Bright Futures Press is your go-to place when it’s time to intoduce your students or child to real world career opportunities — whether it’s at school, in the library, or at home. Our resources spark curiosity and encourage active exploration of all the things a kid can grow up to be.

This way to bright futures…

EDUCATORS

Teachers and career and techical education professionals use these books for Perkins V programming, CTE courses, career exploratories, CTSOs, Title 1 literacy efforts, Gear Up, PLTW, Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work events, and afterschool programs. 

For a free Career Day in a Book activity guide, sign up here:

MEDIA SPECIALISTS

School and public libraries use our middle grade career exploration collection to introduce young readers to real world opportunities and round out library career book offerings with high-interest, age-appropriate books geared for students in grades 4 - 8.

For free Career Day at the Library activity guide, sign up here:

PARENTS

The tween years, starting at age 9 or 10, are ideal for initiating “what can I be” discussions. It is a unique developmental stage, between early childhood and the teen years, when “everything that is in us shows up for the first time,” says social scientist Bruce Grierson.

For a free What Can I Be parent/child activity guide, click here:

8 Series, 67 Titles…

Pick one title, a complete series,
or the entire collection!

Free Resources

Download free activities to sneak in some
extra career exploration

  • Career Idea of the Week

    Career-aware one career at a time

  • Classroom Activity Guides

    Available for all eight series

  • Career Cluster Challenges

    Explore ideas in all 16 clusters

    .

Careers,

She Wrote

Author and producer Diane Lindsey Reeves has spent many years and a lot of ink creating resources that help students of all ages figure out what they want to be when they grow up. She is convinced that early career exploration keeps kids in school, motivates academic achievement, and builds confidence. Her goal is to |inspire students to do more with their lives than they ever dared imagine.