A young boy gives his perspective on several things the grown-ups running the country could do differently.
How much happier would we be if all the adults went to nursery once a month to remind themselves how to play? How much safer would we be if Christmas lights were left up all year round to light everyone's way home?
This hilarious picture book treats profound topics with sensitivity and care. This is a book for all those children who dare to dream big and for all those adults who want to look on the world with fresh eyes.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-1915244994 Ages 7-10
Keywords: humor, fun, government, leadership, imagination, creativity, how things work, 7 year old, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, Social Studies Curriculum
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It seems that no matter where you live in the world at the moment, few are happy with the government they elected, particularly its leader, and there are more than the usual number of heads popping up and saying what they would do if they were prime minister, or whatever title the primary decision-maker, legislation-signer has.. The fact that they don't say how they would do it, or fund it, or even if it would be legal to do so seems to be of no consequence to those who hear the message and so even though this book appears to be for younger readers, it has much broader potential than that.
Asking young children what they would do if they were in charge and had the power to change things is not a new phenomenon in education, and the suggestions that the young boy offers such as "anyone who wanted a bicycle could have a bicycle" and "all the children would have a big bag of sweeties delivered to their door plus an extra half hour of screen time" are very familiar. As expected the ideas are fun and playful, offer imaginative yet thoughtful solutions such as suggesting the politicians return to 'nursery' once a month to learn how to play, and are exactly what you would expect from a child's perspective. Who wouldn't want libraries "open day and night and friendly old people reading to the children"?
While many of the statements are in the here-and-now world of the young child, it also offers them the opportunity to think about some of the big problems that they are aware of and let their own imaginations go wild. For example, the narrator would solve the plastics-in-the-ocean issue by filling "the ocean with a special kind of water that gobbles up plastic and makes it disappear so that dolphins and whales could live happier lives and smile lots and swim super far." Posing the same problem to other children may elicit some responses that are just as interesting... as would illustrating their ideas in the light-hearted manner of Ella Okstad.
However, at the same time, the book could serve as an intriguing introduction to an investigation into how this country is governed, who is responsible for what, how things get changed and so forth, particularly as several of the states and territories have elections looming. How do you get to be prime minister? Can you do what you want just by saying it as though you had a magic wand? Is making promises enough to get you elected or are there other leadership qualities required?
Author Trygve Skaug is a Norwegian songwriter, vocalist and poet and this book, his first for children, was originally published in Norway under the title Hvis Jeg Var Stats-Minister in 2022, but such is its international applicability that there is even a version entitled, "If I were President."
Even if students have no personal ambitions to be the prime minister, it is still an important book to explore as they learn not only about governance whatever form that might take, even if its voting for the school captain, but also how to recognise and respond to those who do put themselves up for office. Is it more than a popularity contest? Why is voting secret? What is the difference between the concepts of personal gain and greater good?
Another one of those excellent books that take the reader and their thinking well beyond the immediacy of the words on the page.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her recommendations:
500 Hats http://500hats.edublogs.org/
The Bottom Shelf http://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/
