Smith, David J., and Steve Adams. If…: A Mind-bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers. Tonawanda: Kids Can Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-894786-34-8.
Brief plot summary:
If…: A Mind-bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers is a nonfiction picture book that combines full page descriptive illustrations with explanations of big concepts in an analogical way. For example, “If the Sun were the size of a grapefruit, Earth would be the size of a grain of salt. Even the largest planet, Jupiter, would be only as big as a large pea.”
If…: A Mind-bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers is a nonfiction picture book that combines full page descriptive illustrations with explanations of big concepts in an analogical way. For example, “If the Sun were the size of a grapefruit, Earth would be the size of a grain of salt. Even the largest planet, Jupiter, would be only as big as a large pea.”
Critical analyses:
Overall impression: Informative, fun, and beautifully illustrated.
Smith and Adam’s creation was a 2015 winner of USBBY’s Outstanding International Book award in the grades 3-5 reading level, and for good reason. Students, particularly upper elementary, are forced to learn about these big concepts and some are just beyond true comprehension. This book does a wonderful job of simplifying these ideas and expressing them in a way that is easily understood by kids (and adults, too, to be honest). I like how the author put it in his note for parents and teachers: “Our world and our Universe are full of things that are just too big to grasp. By scaling them down, we can bring them into focus.”
Adams’ illustrations allow readers to truly visualize Smith’s text. Each two-page spread brings to life a different concept using a new color scheme through Adams’ paintings. Smith begins by stating “If…” then uses bullet points to list how the world would be. Also, for most of the concepts, Smith includes extra factual information that might interest readers.
This book is considered an international book, rather than a multicultural book, so there are no cultural markers. However, the illustrator does include both kids and adults of all different races throughout the book. The great thing about this book is that it focuses on concepts that affect everyone in the world and are factual and interesting. People of all cultures can enjoy and appreciate this one!
Review excerpts:
“If this book were a pizza, young readers would gobble down every slice—and demand more for dessert.”
--Kirkus, August 2014
“Absorbing and informative”
--Booklist, October 2014
“A solid suggestion for fact-focused young readers”
--School Library Journal, August 2014
Connections (related books, activities, children’s responses, etc.):
Conveniently, the author included a note at the end of the book that describes activities that kids can do and then he lists related books and websites. I love when authors do this. I won’t go over everything that he included, but he gave some great ideas on helping kids understand scale by using everyday objects, maps, and timelines. My idea is that kids should act out some of the analogies from the book. Of course not all of them can be done in this way, but kids could use Smith’s planet comparison to sports balls and maybe the comparison of water on Earth to glasses of water.
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