R. Kikuo Johnson’s “A Mother’s Work”

A glimpse into the lives of New York’s caretakers.
While babysitting small kids at a park a woman shows another nanny who is wearing a yellow shirt and holding a pink...

Children growing up in the city are often especially fond of time spent at the playground. In many instances, the supervision of those precious moments of freedom is done not by their parents but by the women hired to watch over them and attend to their needs—women who may also have their own children to care for. For the cover of the September 9, 2024, issue, the cartoonist R. Kikuo Johnson chose to portray a scene that is both familiar and overlooked. “My wife and I became parents this year, so we’re just beginning to face the challenges of raising a kid while working in New York City,” Johnson said. “We interviewed a few nannies before realizing that we couldn’t afford one.”

For more covers about children in the city, see below:

Find R. Kikuo Johnsons’s covers, cartoons, and more at the Condé Nast Store.