If Kids Ran the World

K-Gr 2—In this idealistic vision of our world as run by children, the Dillons imagine a utopia free of hunger, inequality, and poverty: "everyone would have enough to eat…Everyone would have a safe place to live," etc. Multicultural arrays of children clad in whimsical clothing fixedly grin from every page as they care for the environment and spread generosity, peace, and love. To be sure, the aspirations espoused by the voice of these "kids" are admirable and inspiring, and the title could be used to initiate classroom discussions about improving society. However, the tone of the narrative is somewhat didactic, and sentiments such as "No bullying would be allowed" and "Kids would love school" reveal a wistful adult rather than an enthusiastic child. Books like Peter Brown's The Curious Garden (Little, Brown, 2009) or Liz Garton Scanlon's All the World (S. &. S, 2009) express similar themes of world unity and children effecting change in a more subtle way.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY