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Author of Alexander,and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst does not disappoint with her collection of hilarious poems to help children and parents understand some of the trials and tribulations children face while trying to grow up. Lynn Cherry's black and white illustrations compliment Viorsts popular poems, such as If I Were in Charge of the World, Fifteen, Maybe Sixteen Things I Could Worry About, and I Wouldn't be Afraid.

What would you do if you were in charge of the world? That’s a hard question to answer even as an adult, but Judith Viorst’s book. If I Were in Charge of the World and other Worries is a fantastic collection that has a poem about a child’s answer to that question and many other poems that relate to children today with topics like love, animals and social interactions.

Conceptually this book is a wonderful representation of poetry. Children experience a wide range of issues as they grow up, and these poems cover a few of them, such as animals, secrets, love and fun times. In a classroom, there will be children from all walks of life, and to have a multicultural, multi-concept poetry collection is important. For poetry to appeal to all children, it has to cover what they find interesting. This collection has poems to interest most.

The language in this book uses metaphors and imagery. It is important for the imagery to be in this book because not all of the poems have illustrations with them. The use of imagery allows students to get the mental image of the poem without having that visual aide.

The Illustrations in this book are few but magnificent. The use of black and white is a wonderful statement on how the words should be the focus and the illustration a mere enhancer to the final project. Colors can be distracting, and when the subjects are serious, such as the ones in the poem, “I’m Not," vibrant and overused color could seriously detract from the message that Viorst was trying to convey.

A book with poems. Great way for students to relate to the feelings of others through poems. Use with lesson on poems.

Judith Viorst knows children. She knows their hopes, their dreams, their hates, their loves, their frustrations and their joys. Viorst's audience is both parents and children alike - and these poems are fun, thoughtful, insightful and be sure to motivate kids to brush their teeth, put on their jammies and hop under the covers. These poems are so much fun to read, don't be surprised to see parents hopping into bed with their children - or keeping the book for themselves. Living in a scary modern world, this collection of poems is like adding sugar to bad-tasting medicine - it helps ease worries - again, for both parent and child. It really does. However, I am a little confused - if I were in charge of the world, I wouldn't cancel oatmeal - I'd just make it taste better! Lavishly illustrated by Lynne Cherry, this book of poems will become a staple read at bedtime. Highly recommended. ( )