If the World Were 100 People: A Visual Guide to Our Global Village

This visually engaging nonfiction picture book begins with a simple conceit: "It's tricky to picture 8,000,000,000 people, so instead, let's imagine the whole planet is a village where 100 people live." McCann proceeds to distill statistics about the 100 villagers, covering facts such as binary gender, physical characteristics, population distribution, housing security, first languages, literacy, access to electricity and internet, wealth distribution, and more, and closing with an assessment of the future. The upfront prose gently advocates for change where needed: "Every year, about a third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste. That is more than enough to feed the 11 people who are hungry." Bright, eye-catching art by Cushley features an inclusive cast and additional annotated facts. An informative, appealing primer on societal data. Ages 4-8. (July)

Gr 2-5--Using clear, colorful, and inviting infographics and short, interesting text, this book asks "big questions" about life on Earth. McCann opens by asking, "How many people are there in the world?" Since there are approximately eight billion, the author suggests that instead of dealing with such a big number, readers should imagine instead that the world consists of only 100 people. That way, each person represents 80 million people. This approach pares the statistics down to a small, manageable size so we see that 50 of the 100 people are female, 50 are males, 25 are children under 14 years old, and 8 are people more than 65 years old. Using the more easily understandable number of 100 people, the author raises 10 big questions such as: "Where does everyone live?" "Is there enough food to go around?" The final question is, "What are the big questions?" Here the author raises important queries like: "How can we reduce waste and improve the way we share the food we have?" While other books and educational materials have dealt with thinking about the world population as 100 people, this is an up-to-date invitation to think about important issues we are facing right now. Using the text and infographics, readers can discuss the questions raised, do some additional research, and ultimately take informed action. VERDICT This is a terrific find for social studies teachers who want to promote inquiry and active citizenship.--Myra Zarnowski, City Univ. of New York