If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People

What an extraordinary book! This book, with its beautiful, imaginitive illustrations and straightforward presentation of the simple realities of our complex world, is one of the most important books in my library of thousands. Smith's simplicity in his presentation of statistics without bias allows the thought process that inevitably follows the reading of each page to take over the reader's mind as it soars with the accompanying illustrations. As a teaching tool for children, I use this book with kids in grades 3-6 from a very poor school district to illustrate their comparitive socioeconomic advantages, study geopolitics, and meet our data analysis standards. My kids then can be heard enthusiastically retelling and explaining their new understanding of the world throughout the school. HOWEVER, this is as powerful a book for adults as it is for children. I have often given it as a gift to friends. We would have a different world if everyone read this book, read it with their kids, and carried the information with them as I have since I first opened it.

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.

Over the years IÕve received several forwards of a small essay which reduced the world population of approximately six billion to a more manageable one hundred so that crucial statistics could be more easily understood. Now the original author of this concept,David J. Smith, has really pulled off a neat trick by writing a fascinating book about this representative village of one hundred people and making it interesting to all ages. Although I am a high school history and geography teacher, IÕve also taught first, fifth, and eighth grades and I know that IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE would be popular even with six-year-olds, whether or not they fully grasped the concept. Every adult with whom I have shared the book has been instantly captivated - indeed, IÕve felt bad taking it back. In my freshman geography class I canÕt get through a page without a barrage of questions and comments, and some students have already been inspired to do some research of their own. Our school has ordered a copy for every social studies classroom, and both teachers and parents will appreciate the fact that Mr. Smith, a well-respected teacher and geography consultant , has included a variety of practical geographic activities. In addition, this book would stand on its own as a work of art; the fabulous illustrations draw the reader in to the village and beautifully enhance the story. IÕve seldom seen such a wonderful marriage of text and illustrations. ItÕs rare that children have a chance to learn so much vital information in such an entertaining manner - this is a guaranteed best-seller.

My field of research is the history of international education. I was therefore delighted to see this newest addition to a very important need in childrens' literature in support of Global Education efforts in Social Studies. David Smith's book, "If the World Were a Village" is one of the finest examples, in many decades, of books which provide a sensible, sensitive picture of the whole world, as it exists today, in a manner which treats the world's problems as human problems which must be treated in a human manner. Children and adults can all think in the 'scale' of a village and this is the intellectual advantage that David Smith brings to his narrative. He has used this concept of a 'village' of 100 people in workshops around the world for over a decade with great appreciation from many leaders in the field of international education. If you are a parent who wishes your child to have an open and sympathetic view of the world and its peoples - this is a must purchase. If you are a school librarian who needs to expand the Social Studies collection with global education and multicultural education titles in mind - this is a must purchase. If you are a school principal and wish to use a book for a 'read-aloud' to a group of primary school children - this is a must purchase. Not only is David's narrative carefully backed by the most recent world institutional reports on poverty, demographics and political movements, but also, his approach is quietly but expertly informed by a professional knowledge of the teaching of world geography, upon which this book is based. The striking but sensitive illustrations are worth the purchase alone. Such faithful articulation and congruence with the text is often difficult to accomplish in a childrens' book. This is especially true since the text is, at times, somewhat abstract and often almost too detailed in its presentation. I hope that David collaborates again with Shelagh Armstrong as they have produced a winner!