Product Details
Author : David Smith
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9781550747799
Number of Pages : 32
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2002-03-01
Publisher : Kids Can Press, Ltd.
Reading Level : Ages 9-12
UPC : 625816477978
ASIN : 1550747797
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.ca
Six billion people is a big number for a 6-year-old to grasp. So educational consultant David J. Smith has come up with an intriguing concept to help children better understand the significance of global population growth. In his picture book If the World Were a Village, Smith invites young readers to imagine the world as a village of just 100 people (each of whom represents 62 million people in the real world.)
Here the numbers start to tell their story. If the world is a village, how many of its 100 villagers get enough to eat? How many children can afford to go to school? Smith brings global statistics down to size, enabling children to visualize the differences between the world's haves and have-nots. Of his 100 villagers, for example, only 24 regularly have enough to eat. Only 31 of the 38 school-aged children go to school, and those who don't are mostly girls. Moreover, while 76 villagers have electricity, there are just 24 TV sets and no more than seven computers in the village.
Smith, who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and leads educational workshops throughout the world, calls his first children's book an introduction to "world-mindedness," which he describes as "the sense that our planet is actually a village, and we share this small, precious village with our neighbors." Unfortunately, Shelagh Armstrong's faceless illustrations work at cross-purposes with Smith's message that the numbers are about real people. Even so, If the World Were a Village makes a fascinating learning tool. (Ages 6 to 10) --Lisa Alward
Customer Reviews
Thought Provoking (2007-01-14)  This book is amazing! It takes the world population down to 100 people and then lists how many people would be able to read, go to school, be homeless, have a family. It is just astounding when you really think about it.
An Appreciated Gift (2002-12-27) We received our first copy of this book as a gift last year. It provoked a most interesting conversation in our family (which includes two teenagers). Soon after, we took our copy on a family visit and it generated another lively discussion. We left our copy with our hosts and ordered another one for ourselves. And, we realized that this book could be a first-rate gift for anyone, anytime. Since then, it has become our standard "house present" when visiting. It is universally appreciated and commented on long after its initial receipt. It's a unique gift that delightfully engages giver and receiver immediately.
Read this With a Child Again and Again! (2002-12-19) Both thoughtful and equally stimulating, "If The World Were a Village" succeeds in opening the eyes and the minds of young readers through a quite creative format. As a father of two children, the book offers several topical "lenses" to discuss and really share in the wonderful effort to better understand some of these very timely and also profound issues so relevant for each and everyone of us. If the mark of a good book is to provoke our thinking on a topic and engage our minds - adult and child - you've got the perfect thing right here.
An original and interesting book for all ages (2002-11-26) I purchased this book as a gift for a friend's child. I left the book on my desk and one of my colleagues leafed through it and was hooked. Before the end of the day the book had been passed through four other interested readers. They all found the book fascinating and informative. "If the World Were a Village" encourages the reader, regardless of age, to consider the world's population as if it were a village comprised of 100 people. The reader will make discoveries regarding population, ages, religions, literacy, money, and much more. The book ends with what I consider to be the most valuable part of the book -- by very objectively educating the reader on population growth and suggesting ways to further educate children (or adults) on the subject. There should be more children's books like this one -- excellent for children, and appealing to adult readers as well.
Creating "World-Mindedness" in the Classroom (2002-11-26) We love this book! We have host international teachers from all over the world and have given them each a copy to use in their classrooms while teaching in the US. The reading level states 9-12, but our teachers have used it at all grade levels. Thank you for sharing the world with us and giving us such a great perspective.
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