Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This warm piece of speculative fiction is tailor-made for both circle-time reading and spurring class projects. Bailey's (the Stanley series) what-ifs run the gamut from calendar and nutritional reform ("If kids ruled the world, every day would be your birthday! Birthday cake would be good for you") to the legalization of transgressive behavior ("Beds would be for bouncing on and hiding underneath") and vastly increased personal agency ("If you felt like going somewhere, you'd have your own thingamajiggy to get there"). Huyck's (Nine Words Max) sunny scenes are filled with devil-may-care, romping kids-the pictures have the lovely, pretend-play-comes-to-life feel of vintage Golden Books. Never once does a kid yearn for a world with more screen time: in fact, the book's best spread shows a close-up of a tree fort whose occupant has pulled up the rope ladder and is unseen except for two legs that end in flip-flops and two hands writing in a journal. If that is indeed what would happen if kids ruled the world, let's welcome them as our new overlords. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K- Every page features a child's dream come true: birthday cake would be good for us, beds would be for bouncing, every yard would have a lake, every tree would have a tree house. This is a wonderful book for sharing in storytime; it guarantees an abundance of ooohs, aaahs, and even cheers and will rev up imaginations about all kinds of fun things kids might do if they were in charge. The full-bleed illustrations are dynamic, bright, and cheerful, brimming with happy children of all ethnicities (and ages, as there are white-haired "kids" included in the last two spreads). Thanks to the joyful artwork and a text that unapologetically indulges every kid's wish for things like a personal castle and Recess School, this is a surefire winner. Some books are built purely for fun, and this is one of them.-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This book starts off strong: if kids ruled the world, "birthday cake would be good for you," "there'd be no such thing as bedtime," etc. The big finish, for which smooth digital illustrations show a multigenerational cast acting childish: "No one would ever forget how to PLAY!" It's rather a letdown, though: do kids really dread forgetting how to play? (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
From the expected to the surreal, Bailey imagines a world where kids make the rules.Of course, every day would be your birthday, and of course, birthday cake would be good for you. Youd never have to make your bed, and if you wanted to travel, just take a pirate shipor a rocket! In a world where kids decide what is best, Bailey presumes that everyone would want to be a prince or a princess and own a pet kangaroo, elephant or grizzly bear. Baths would not be mandatory, and you could wear whatever you want, even underwear on your head. Most of the suppositions are fairly mundane, but a few inventive moments sneak insuch as, all the sidewalks would be trampolines. The narratives final effort at justifying these silly, high-spirited rules is to say that no one would ever forget how to / PLAY! / No way! Huycks detailed, digital illustrations stretch the light tone even farther. Kids of all ethnicities crowd the pages, often in separate, humorous vignettes tucked within the backgrounds.The reminder to play at all ages is important, but one wishes if kids did rule the world there might be an element of idealism as well, not just whimsy. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
