If This Were the World

PreS-Gr 2–When the students of Ms. Lee’s class discover that, on the 138th day of school, they have played every game they can think of during recess, a young boy pulls out an orange and proposes a “what if” game in which the orange represents the world. Everyone joins in and soon the orange becomes too small. A dodgeball is next, which gets stolen by a big kid, followed by a tree, which seems big enough until the branches snap. The students continue to search for new possibilities to represent the world, which becomes a game in and of itself, until finally a young girl suggests that the world itself is the world, which sets off a new plethora of possibilities. Lively, cartoonish pen-and-ink drawings in rainbow hues successfully convey the boisterous enthusiasm of the students and their diverse personalities. The students are portrayed in a variety of skin tones.