Would You Rather...

Rating:
Summary: Great for teachers
Review: .

John Burningham must have had some very spooky bedtime stories read to him when he was a youngster. With his book " Would you rather ..." he is perpetuating that old Victorian-Edwardian Era parenting tip of disciplining children by frightening the tripes out of them.

Imagine if you were a five-year-old and ready for bed. Then you were offered these treats as a bedtime snack.

You have the choice of the following: to eat spider stew, slug dumplings, mashed worms or drink snail squash.

Nausea rather than sleep is a likely result.

And how about following that with these painful, violent scenarios?

Would you rather .... be crushed by a snake .... swallowed by a fish ....., eaten by a crocodile..... or sat on by a rhinoceros ?

The rational answer would be - I don't fancy any of those. But you are given no choice.

We even get a good dose of gross social embarrassment. Mom has a fight with a waitress in a restaurant (rough translation from the britspeak "row in a caff").

And that's not all. Crabs and wolves chase us. Welcome to Mr Burningham's nightmare.

We finish up with that greatest childhood fear of all. Getting lost. We do have a choice though, just to really the get kiddies panicking. We have a choice of getting lost in the fog, at sea, in a desert, or worst of all, in a CROWD.

I want my Mommy !!! This is the inevitable cry.

After all that, there is only one decision left. "Perhaps you would rather go to sleep in your bed". No thanks!

This is not a bedtime story; it's a recipe for giving children a lifetime of neuroses and insomnia. Oh, Mr Burningham, you've done it again !

Rating:
Summary: A Fun, Funny, Discussion-provoking book
Review: A year ago my family discovered this wonderful book and my kids and I all love it. They howl with glee over the disgusting choices, and ponder thoughtfully over the more enjoyable choices. There is always much discussion and explanation of preferences, the pros and cons of being pulled through the mud by a dog versus being covered in jam, or whether having a koala bear you can read to or a pig you can ride on would be more fun.

This is one of the few books of my experience that transcends both sex and age - both my sons and my daughter, ranging from 3 -8 years all enjoy it, making it a rare commodity: something they can all agree on.

But the best part is that now the kids love to make up their own "would you rathers". This has become a favorite car game, and I love the creativity and imagination they put into it.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun, Funny, Discussion-provoking book
Review: As a researcher and educator in the field of whole brain learning, I have to say I've loved this book for 25 years. Children 4-8 years old are not "undone" by the scenarios involved, rather they are delighted by guided choices that tantalize the right hemisphere where one imagines and generate energy in structures in the brain referred to as the limbic system. Perhaps some adults react with displeasure to the offerings, but children do not unless they are "trained" to react negatively to the ideas because of adult perceptions. Brainwise, children are NOT simply little adults. If you really want this book to have a true whole brain impact, do not display the illustrations until after a child has made a choice!

Rating:
Summary: Whole Brain Learning At Its Best
Review: As a researcher and educator in the field of whole brain learning, I have to say I've loved this book for 25 years. Children 4-8 years old are not "undone" by the scenarios involved, rather they are delighted by guided choices that tantalize the right hemisphere where one imagines and generate energy in structures in the brain referred to as the limbic system. Perhaps some adults react with displeasure to the offerings, but children do not unless they are "trained" to react negatively to the ideas because of adult perceptions. Brainwise, children are NOT simply little adults. If you really want this book to have a true whole brain impact, do not display the illustrations until after a child has made a choice!

Rating:
Summary: Would you rather...
Review: This is a book of choices - choices that are not always so wonderful. Even so, the choosing is fun. Young children can learn about selecting the "lesser of two (or three or four) evils." When used with a group of readers, the idea of consensus can be examined.

Rating:
Summary: Would you rather...
Review: This is a book of choices - choices that are not always so wonderful. Even so, the choosing is fun. Young children can learn about selecting the "lesser of two (or three or four) evils." When used with a group of readers, the idea of consensus can be examined.