The illustrations are perfect: I loved the style, they’re colorful, fun to peruse, pertinent to the subject matter, and I found them to be completely engaging. Although I am actually a bit overwhelmed with and by the seemingly vast amount of information presented, and especially so with all of the numerical data (and would therefore tend to divide the same into smaller, more manageable chunks if I were reading this with or to children), David J. Smith's If the World Were a Village truly is, I believe, one of the best books I have encountered to teach global awareness to children. Exponential numbers, tragedies of epic proportions, the fact that many of the world's people do not have enough food to eat, clean water to drink, educational opportunities etc. are often hard for children to comprehend, to grasp (and yes, even adults often have trouble with this). But by imagining the world's population as one hundred people living in one single village, the numbers not only become more manageable and understandable, the world's problems, the discrepancy between rich and poor, the fact that out of a village of 100 people, only 24 will always have enough to eat, this also becomes much more present and immediate. Neither gloom-and-doom nor artificially optimistic in its outlook, both positives and negatives are equally strongly presented, always striving for balance, making this lushly illustrated, informative picture book, making If the World Were a Village a perfect teaching/learning tool for either at-home or in-class use. And yes, as an added bonus, the author, David J. Smith has also and appreciatively included a detailed list of teaching suggestions, as well as relevant bibliographical sources for the data utilised, turning If the World Were a Village into an essential and informative resource for both teachers and parents (and while some of the teaching suggestions might indeed be rather standard, many of them, such as for example the concept of partnering schools, of fostering sister/brother communities around the world are in my opinion truly imaginative and innovative). This amazing book could be used in many different ways across the curriculum.Each chapter (on topics such as population, food and schooling) is accompanied by bright, folksy illustrations that make this global village look like a lively and interesting place. Includes a section on teaching children about the global village.— Children's Book News Your challenge will be to decide how to represent some more of the data from the book. Here are some suggestions but you could choose your own data if you have a copy of the book.

I should loathe this book because it made me feel old, very old, and practically ancient, something I rarely feel. However, it also made me feel really wealthy, a feeling I also don’t typically have. Side note: I would not recommend this book for students in K-3, simply because of the content. Instead, I would recommend its sequel: If America Were A Village. I think young students could understand concepts better in this context. If America Were a Village could be used with similar lessons. I love this book. It has so many opportunities for cross-curricular and thematic learning. The concept of mathematics and sorting through numbers makes it an excellent resource to use in both KS1 and Ks2 mathematics lessons. Further to this, it highlights the concept of global citizenship, tolerance whilst simultaneously exposing children to information texts. billion - the world's population at the time that this book was published - is a very large number. So large, in fact, that many children (not to mention adults!) might have difficulty really conceptualizing it. Author David J. Smith, in an effort to make this number, and all the many confusing facts and figures about the world's population - where we come from, what languages we speak, how our resources are distributed - more comprehensible, imagines the world as a village of one hundred people in this fascinating picture-book. The result is a title that makes certain statistics - like the fact that only 24 out of 100 villagers always have enough to eat - far easier to understand, and far more "real" to readers, than they would otherwise have been. These days, the world seems to be getting smaller. This timely, unique book enhances that sentiment. It is useful for a current understanding of the world's population.— School Library JournalThe minute I saw the title, I knew I had to read and review this story. Not only does this book encourage young readers and learners to think more globally, it also brings a certain air of refreshing reality. I love books that encourage students to think beyond their world! Designed with kids in mind, this book does it all - relatable illustrations, captions, text features, and more. Talk about connections, I cannot imagine a better book to start nonfiction close reading with! A gallery based on the book 'If the World Were a Village' by David J Smith and Shelagh Armstrong has opened and needs some exhibits. All of these must be based upon the data from within the book. It is important to be thoughtful about how the data are presented because sometimes key messages can be missed out because of the way the data are shown. Unique format shrinks the world's population down to 100 and presents who we are, where we live, how fast we are growing, what languages we speak and more.— ForeWord

This is a superb book for children from the United States or any place where children might think they’re the center of the world.Contents covered for a 100 person village based on world population are: a welcome to the global village, nationalities, languages, ages, religions, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money and possessions, electricity, the village in the past, the village in the future, teaching children about the global village (a section I think is wonderful and I was most appreciative it was included), and a note on sources and how the calculations were made. Thought-provoking and highly effective, this world-in-miniature will open eyes to a wider view of our planet and its human inhabitants.— Horn Book Magazine