Three Books About The World  

Reviewed by Kenny Brechner

 
    As a child's relationship with the world is itself a work in progress one looks to find, in books whose primary purpose is to explain the world to children, qualities which reflect the same dynamic, transitional qualities which exists in the young reader herself.

    This spring publishing season features three such books, strikingly original and innovative in both concept and design, namely, If the World Were A Village: A Book about the World's People, by David Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong, A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme, by J. Patrick Lewis and illustrated by Alison jay, and What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean, by Lauren Child.

    Cynical and deceptive uses of statistics are so abundant it is easy to forget their educational potential. If the World Were A Village is based on a statistical concept whose simplicity makes its effectiveness particularly elegant. The book begins by noting that the world's population is currently 6,000,200,000. It proceeds by suggesting that numbers this big are hard to understand, but what if we imagined the whole population of the world as a village of just 100 people?.

    Smith then goes on to explore varies components of a global village such as nationalities, languages, religions, food and so forth. The results are surprising, interesting and provocative, that is to say that they are educational in the best sense of the word. Concerning nationalities for example, the book relates that of the 100 people in the global village 61 are from Asia, 13 from Africa, 12 from Europe, 8 from South America, 5 from Canada and the United States, and 1 form Oceana. In terms of languages the reader discovers that while there are over 6,000 languages in the village over half the villages speak one of 8 languages.

I f the World Were A Village is quite simply a tour de force in the world of children's books about the world. A World of Wonders features Alison Jay=s charming illustrations and a wealth of entertaining geographical information delivered in pleasantly rhymed verse. The book maintains an excellent balance throughout. The drawings offer plenty to look at without being overly busy, and the text is amusing and inventive without being overly exuberant or flat. All in all A World of Wonders makes for a delightful read aloud book for both classrooms and living rooms.

    What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean, is Laura Child's third book featuring the funniest first person narrator in the picture book universe, Clarice Bean. Clarice is excited about an upcoming school project called The Environment, which is nature really. Paired with boring classmate Robert Granger on a project entitled, Who can walk faster: a snail or a worm, Clarice despairs until she ends up drawing Roger into a protest her brother Kurt has organized to save a tree in their neighborhood from being cut down. In the end even stern Mrs. Wilberton has to say, Well done, Clarice Bean!