“If America Were a Village” and “If the World Were a Village” by David J. Smith are two wonderful, interactive books for children. The first book breaks down facts about our families, religions, customs, and other statistics. It breaks the facts down into easy-to-understand ratios of 100. For example, if America was a country of 100 people then 5 of them have more than half of the wealth. It also breaks facts about wealth down by state. The book is complete with colorful pictures and would be an ideal choice for a student in grade school.

“If the World Were a Village” breaks down the facts about the world in the same way. It covers nationalities, languages, ages, religions, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money, electricity, and villages of the past and present. This book also provides colorful pictures and analogies. It would also be a great choice for a grade school student. We enjoyed the illustrations and having an opportunity to travel around the world using our imagination (since plane travel with kids can be tough!)

Reviewed by Alicia Kelly, Baby Kid Contributor

These books would be great birthday party gifts or they would be a perfect teacher book! (Editor’s Note: Alicia would know…she’s a teacher.)