What If Everybody Said That?

Author: Ellen Javernick
Illustrator: Colleen Madden
Category: Illustrated Children’s Book
Suitable for: All ages, Ideal for ages 3 to 7.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Format Read for Review: Kindle First
Pages: 24

Description:

This is the story of a mean little girl who has her little clique and wont include anyone else. At every chance she gets she makes fun of others, doesn’t share and puts herself first. Every time she does these things the adults scold, “What if everybody said that?” Finally she realizes how bad it really would be if everyone behaved like her and she decides to be kind and befriend her new neighbor.

In Short:

This is a cute little book that could be good for having a discussion on sharing and inclusion. I would recommend it to anyone who thinks their child would benefit from it’s lessons. You can sample the first few pages on Amazon so give that a look if you are interested.

Pros:

This book opens up a good discussion about how to be kind and not be a bully. There are several examples of how not to behave which opens up the question, what could be done instead. The art is very colorful and highly detailed. The style is very animated with the characters often wearing intense expressions showing how these negative actions make them feel.

Cons:

It would have been nice if it wasn’t just page after page of this little girl being completely mean only to be nice and finally show kindness at the end. There were almost too many good examples of how to pick on other kids that it seemed like it might be teaching the wrong thing at first. I guess I would have liked to see some better role models in there somehow or more examples of kindness. I got this with Kindle First and read it on my big ol’ iPad and the font is very small so I would suggest getting a physical copy.