What If Everybody Said That Reviews Summary

Impact of Words

Pros:

• "What we say may have an immediate and lasting affects on others."
• "All kids need a reminder of the impact of their actions and words."
• "This books does a great job of diving deeper into thinking about the words we say to others."
• "Children and adults need practice in reflecting upon how an impulsive phrase or sentence can affect others."
• "It really helped open up conversations with my 5 and 7 year old about other people’s feelings and the importance of kindness."
• "This book gives the best example for children of how the things you say really hurt others feelings."
• "Wonderful way to encourage children to think about what their careless words and action might do to others."

Cons:

• "I have a very negative child, and we resonated a lot with the words the character used, but I would like to see a revision where each negative comment was met not only with 'what if everyone said that?' but with a positive alternative."
• "I was looking for a book that would address treating others with kindness and watching what we say but this book had adults acting angrily toward children."
• "Unfortunately this book made my preschooler start repeating the unfavorable phrases."
• "I started reading this book and had to stop. It was full of negative examples."
• "The story felt very negative the whole way through."
• "It's a good children's book, however, I feel like the positive message is lost in all of the negative examples throughout the story."
• "Sounds like a great idea, but might it actually lead to more rudeness by some kids?"

Illustrations and Design

Pros:

• "It was fun when the words changed sizes to read."
• "The illustrations are adorable!"
• "A great message in an entertaining format with great illustrations."
• "Fun illustrations, especially the pirate-capped girl on the bike."
• "The illustrations are interesting and thoughtful!!"
• "This is a beautifully designed book with excellent illustrations."
• "The illustrations are great which lends to grasping the truth in picture form."

Cons:

• "The pages are too busy for young children."
• "On almost every page, the kids and adults are glaring or yelling."
• "The grownups almost exclusively wear angry, scary-looking facial expressions."
• "The story felt scattered. I felt like I had to fish the narration out of the busy illustrations."
• "When viewed on my iPad 5th Generation, however, the screen is not filled and, hence, the book underwhelms the reader."
• "Someone said the illustrations are negative, but that’s to help show what negative comments are."
• "The one page I thought out of place for the target age was the girl saying a boys glasses looked funny with the everyone page displaying a text exchange between two girls making fun of another girl’s braces."

Educational Value

Pros:

• "This is a quick and simple story for children, with a message that benefits everyone!"
• "Even preschoolers can relate to both the story and the illustrations."
• "I like the repetition of the consequence of actions. Repetition promotes learning."
• "This book is a refreshing way to teach and encourage patience, kindness, consideration, and good manners."
• "Great for preschool and early elementary school age kids."
• "This book provides a perfect read aloud for children ages 3-7."
• "A very good way to teach them how to be more respectful and mindful of others."

Cons:

• "Probably not appropriate for my 3 year old but it doesn't seem like it would be that interesting to an older kid since it doesn't really have a cohesive story to follow."
• "It would have been great if the negative and positive behavior went back to back but just one at the very end is not enough."
• "It's kept asking what if everybody said this or did this, but it never got into any conversation about how it affects others or ways to find a solution."
• "The main character is basically a bully... this book falls a little flat on delivering that message."
• "Not beneficial in conveying its message, and not beneficial for introducing kids to storytelling and books."
• "I understand it's not a standalone instruction book but it really just has no story whatsoever."
• "It's a good children's book, however, I feel like the positive message is lost in all of the negative examples throughout the story."