If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World’s People

by David J. Smith, Shelagh Armstrong (Illustrator)

There are currently more than six billion people on the planet! This enormous number can be difficult to grasp, especially for a child. But what if we imagine the whole world as a village of just 100 people? In a time when parents and educators are looking to help children gain a better understanding of the world's peoples and their ways of life, If the World Were a Village offers a unique and objective resource. By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. The shrunk-down statistics — some surprising, some shocking — and David Smith's tips on building "world-mindedness" will encourage readers to embrace the bigger picture and help them to establish their own place in the global village. If the World Were a Village is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Geography, Childrens, Teaching, Mathematics, Sociology

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David J. Smith, born in the U.S., is a Canadian writer of children's books.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I am actually a bit overwhelmed with and by the seemingly vast amount of information presented, and especially so with all of the numerical data (and would therefore tend to divide the same into smaller, more manageable chunks if I were reading this with or to children), David J. Smith's If the World Were a Village truly is, I believe, one of the best books I have encountered to teach global awareness to children. Exponential numbers, tragedies of epic proportions, the fact that many of the world's people do not have enough food to eat, clean water to drink, educational opportunities etc. are often hard for children to comprehend, to grasp (and yes, even adults often have trouble with this). But by imagining the world's population as one hundred people living in one single village, the numbers not only become more manageable and understandable, the world's problems, the discrepancy between rich and poor, the fact that out of a village of 100 people, only 24 will always have enough to eat, this also becomes much more present and immediate.

Neither gloom-and-doom nor artificially optimistic in its outlook, both positives and negatives are equally strongly presented, always striving for balance, making this lushly illustrated, informative picture book, making If the World Were a Village a perfect teaching/learning tool for either at-home or in-class use. And yes, as an added bonus, the author, David J. Smith has also and appreciatively included a detailed list of teaching suggestions, as well as relevant bibliographical sources for the data utilised, turning If the World Were a Village into an essential and informative resource for both teachers and parents (and while some of the teaching suggestions might indeed be rather standard, many of them, such as for example the concept of partnering schools, of fostering sister/brother communities around the world are in my opinion truly imaginative and innovative).

And finally, although I would not necessarily call Shelagh Armstrong's boldly colourful accompanying illustrations personal favourites, they do work really well with David J. Smith's text, providing a fitting complement, a wonderful and richly evocative mirror to and of the information presented. Highly recommended for older children interested in world geography, If the World Were a Village would also be a perfect teaching/learning tool in both elementary and middle school social studies classes (and well, perhaps even in high school classes, as the numerical information presented would of course be of interest and significance to and for older students and adults as well).

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are ugly as sin, but the information is fascinating and straightforward. Highly recommended for privileged children especially.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! I’m a sucker for information such as this. I’ve gotten emails with this type of data and I’ve seen information in museums with these statistics. (This book was published in 2002; I’d love regular updates.)

I should loathe this book because it made me feel old, very old, and practically ancient, something I rarely feel. However, it also made me feel really wealthy, a feeling I also don’t typically have.

Contents covered for a 100 person village based on world population are: a welcome to the global village, nationalities, languages, ages, religions, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money and possessions, electricity, the village in the past, the village in the future, teaching children about the global village (a section I think is wonderful and I was most appreciative it was included), and a note on sources and how the calculations were made.

This is a superb book for children from the United States or any place where children might think they’re the center of the world.

The illustrations are perfect: I loved the style, they’re colorful, fun to peruse, pertinent to the subject matter, and I found them to be completely engaging.

I’m going to send out a few official recommendations for this book but actually I could probably recommend it to many, many more people.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time this book was written in 1999, the world held about six billion people! That number is remarkably difficult to grasp, for adults or children, but this book attempts to make it easier to relate to by imagining that population in a village of only 100 people. We learn, then, that 61 are from Asia, 13 from Africa, 12 from Europe and so on... we learn that 24 do not have electricity, 17 cannot read and 60 people are always hungry. It is much easier to grasp the idea of walking through a village of one hundred and seeing over half of your neighbors hungry than to try to imagine millions of hungry people in places many children have never even heard of. I think this book succeeds well in this way, making this more easy to relate to. Of course, much further study needs to be done to understand where and why these situations occur (for example, a baby born in the village today could expect to live to age 63; obviously, this is an average as some countries have high infant and childhood mortality rates whereas those in America can expect to live into their 70s or 80s) but and the author provides some teaching ideas and resources at the back of the book for parents and teachers who wish to do just that.

I think the book's purpose is two-fold, to create an understanding of the variety of people and situations in the world and to encourage an interest in them and their plight. The focus on environmental and other issues such as poor air quality, lack of clean water, and the challenges of girls receiving an education encourages action. (Compared to a book such as One World, One Day that focuses more on the everyday experiences of children around the world and the similarities despite differences.) I think Smith's book would be a good teaching tool for upper elementary school children but I also think that, in and of itself, it doesn't have quite enough emotional resonance or story to really captivate and inspire; I think that, paired with a book like One World, One Day (where children can see other children and relate more easily to them), much good learning and responsible global citizenship can be accomplished.

On a personal note (and this is no criticism of the book) while I am a huge supporter of getting children to understand the world on a global scale and to appreciate diverse countries and cultures, I also think it is important for families to explain that even within ones own country, there are often vast differences in what people experience. I was fortunate enough to grow-up in a fairly affluent part of California and I still remember the first time we took a trip to the mid-west. I was shocked at some of the small, poorer towns that my parents purposely drove through so that my sister and I would realize how fortunate we were and that, even in America, people do not always have the same opportunities or amenities as we were used to. As I read the statistic about the 32 villagers that breathe air that is unhealthy because of pollution, I couldn't help but think of the stats on the airnow.gov website I looked at the other day that puts several areas of the US in the "unhealthy" category. Of course, I don't mean to compare a working class small town in Nevada or the air pollution of the Sacramento valley to the struggles in a small African village or the air pollution in Beijing, for example, but simply to say that even when children are not able to travel to other parts of the world, they can still develop an understanding of and sympathy to the differences in what people have and have not, and even starting within ones own "village," there is much room to cultivate "world-mindedness" and, as author David Smith says, "Knowing who our neighbors are, where they live and how they live, will help us live in peace."

I'm eager to read the author's If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States!

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.2 billion - the world's population at the time that this book was published - is a very large number. So large, in fact, that many children (not to mention adults!) might have difficulty really conceptualizing it. Author David J. Smith, in an effort to make this number, and all the many confusing facts and figures about the world's population - where we come from, what languages we speak, how our resources are distributed - more comprehensible, imagines the world as a village of one hundred people in this fascinating picture-book. The result is a title that makes certain statistics - like the fact that only 24 out of 100 villagers always have enough to eat - far easier to understand, and far more "real" to readers, than they would otherwise have been.

If the World Were a Village is an engaging and most informative book, one that takes some difficult concepts and information, and presents it in a clear and easily comprehended format. No small achievement! I think it would make an excellent title for an (upper) elementary school social studies unit - in fact, I recall doing an exercise just like this, when I was a girl, in which the "world" was the size of our class - and appreciated it on that level. I don't know that my response was quite as enthusiastic as some of my fellow reviewers (I see quite a few five and four-star reviews), but I did like it very much, and think it makes for an educational reading experience, regardless of age.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was featured as one of the selections for the August 2011 Maps and Geography themed books for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books group here at Goodreads.

We didn't receive it from our library until now, but we were glad to finally get a chance to read it. It offers an eye-opening look at a cross-section of global society, along with the demographic information behind it.

I've seen news reports similar to this, but never before in a picture-book and this was a good way to show our girls just how big our world is and how blessed we are to have the things we have (even things we take for granted like clean water and electricity.)

I appreciated the author's note at the end of the book and I will incorporate some of his ideas about exposing our girls to a more global outlook, to increase our "world-mindedness." We really enjoyed reading this book together.

[Karol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an eye-opening book for any age. It is very well researched. It points out relative sizes of populations who speak specific languages, get an education, have a stable food supply, etc. The illustrations are beautifully done, and help reinforce the point. I enjoyed the pages where you could count the population of the village's different groups (Asia, Europe, US & Canada, etc.) but it was a challenge to find all of the people in some of the groups! Highly recommended to help give children a broader world view.

[Donna Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating concept: teach kids about the people of the world by imagining us as a village of 100 people, and presenting statistics as how many out of a hundred fit a given description. Everything from how many have electricity to how many are hungry all the time. How many practice religion and how many fit a certain age group. The art is also beautiful. I think this book would be fascinating for older elementary students and above.
The only drawback: statistics quickly become out-of-date, then the book feels irrelevant. Or at least less relevant.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those nonfiction books for children that really have wider appeal for adults.

I read this aloud to my 6 year old daughter, (she just turned 6) and she's not quite at the point where she really understood that 100 people were representing all the people. She enjoyed listening to it anyways.

Parts of the book are a bit dark, but, that's how the world is and it doesn't make too much sense to hide the disparity in circumstances from children.

I hope to revisit the book with her in a couple years when it will make more sense.

[Megan McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People" is a Nonfiction/Informational text that I believe would be appropriate to use with 4th through 6th graders. The book illustrates the demographics of who makes up the world. Using 100 as a base number, the book shows the world population in terms of the following elements: nationalities, languages, ages, religions, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money and possessions, electricity, the population of the past, and the population of the future. Sometimes, I feel like it is easy for us (and students) to visualize the population of Earth to be very similar to us in reference to these elements if it is all that we are surrounded by. This book disproves this outlook by displaying the true diversity of our planet's people. It is important for students to be exposed to the lives of people different from themselves to help them develop a global perspective. I think that "If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People" is also a book that refutes some peoples' beliefs that Nonfiction texts are always boring and word heavy. This picture book is still very informative, but it displays the information without overloading readers with long paragraphs. This is a WOW book for me because nonfiction texts are typically not my favorites to read, but I enjoyed this book! I felt like I was really able to gain insightful knowledge on the Earth's population without feeling like I was reading a textbook.

As a future teacher, I see several ways that I could implement this book into my future classroom. I could definitely integrate "If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People" with Math and Social Studies instruction. When learning about charts and graphs in Math, my students and I could use the data from each page to create a chart or graph that displays the information. This
would also reinforce to students the idea of the true diversity of Earth's population. In Social Studies, this book could be used in conjunction with mapping activities and social issues discussions. I think this book would also be a good read aloud to kick off a unit on diversity or population.

[Ann Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brilliant idea for a book but would it keep children interested? I think that adult intervention would be needed, ideal for the classroom.

[cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book skid handed to me!

[Laura Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Close your eyes. Now imagine if the world of over 6 billion people were shrunk down to the size of a small village of 100 people. Are you there yet? What does it look like? What does it sound like? What animals would be there? What would the houses look like? What languages do the people speak? How many old? How many young? What kinds of religions are represented? How many are Jewish, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist? How many have power or drinking water? The questions and answers are unending in this practical and fascinating informational tale of "If the World Were A Village."

The minute I saw the title, I knew I had to read and review this story. Not only does this book encourage young readers and learners to think more globally, it also brings a certain air of refreshing reality. I love books that encourage students to think beyond their world! Designed with kids in mind, this book does it all - relatable illustrations, captions, text features, and more. Talk about connections, I cannot imagine a better book to start nonfiction close reading with!

I read this story for the genre of informational text. Lesson ideas include: Earth Day, Social Studies communities (macro to micro), global citizenship, text features, math statistics and ratios, etc. In every way this is a WOW book - the multicultural ideas, representations, the discussions with this book and the ways in which a teacher can utilize the information in the book are endless. I think what made this a WOW the most was how eye-opening the statistics were but also how my heart melted with the turn of the page.

Side note: I would not recommend this book for students in K-3, simply because of the content. Instead, I would recommend its sequel: If America Were A Village. I think young students could understand concepts better in this context. If America Were a Village could be used with similar lessons.

Both of these books are CitizenKids books, which are specifically chosen for their global justice messages.

[Kimberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this tremendously popular non-fiction picture book on socialstudiesforkids. com. Originally published in 2002, a new edition of the book was released in 2011. It has sold over 400,000 copies and been published in seventeen languages. Written by David J Smith, If The World is a Village paints a picture of the world population as just a village of 100 people. What would this village look like? Who would be our neighbors and how would they live? As it is very difficult for students to imagine our huge global population of 6.8 million, Smith gives us the number 100, with one person equaling 64 million. When statistics are given out of a hundred it is much easier to grasp the information, especially for our young learners. There are some fascinating facts in the book such as out of our global village of 100 - 5 would be from the USA and Canada, 22 would speak a Chinese dialect, 32 would breathe polluted air and 24 would not have electricity. Smith connects statistics with authentic information on different cultures and peoples. For example, when he speaks of world religions he connects the Muslims to their minaret, the Christians to a bell tower, and the Buddists to the gong. Especially meaningful is the end of the book when the reader is asked to imagine a "village of the future" where everyone has access to food, shelter, and water. All humans deserve these basic rights. The illustrations by award winning illustrator, Shelagh Armstrong are playful and cartoon-like. The colorful illustrations would appeal to a wide-range of children. I would use this book in a classroom of middle schoolers. In mathematics, students could work in groups to graph the statistics in the book. In social studies, students could further research the statistics that were particularly meaningful to them and report back to the class.

[Celia Buell (semi hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A billion is an impossible number to visualize. There are 7.75 billion people in the world, what does that even mean? If the World Were a Village breaks down the world’s population to a village of just 100 people.

This book (an updated version to reflect the current population) would be great to teach a variety of skills in social studies and math. It's a good way to look at communities and our own impact around the world, as well as just to help students understand the magnitude of the world better. It's also a good way for students to practice and examine real world applications of the number 100 (for younger students) or proportions and comparisons (for older students).

I would love to see an updated version of this in my classroom, and it would definitely be a tool I use year after year for lesson planning.

Read my full review on my Goodreads account for children's books

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is great for any classroom because it helps not only children, but people of all ages to understand the idea of people living differently from themselves. Younger children may not understand all of it, especially the numbers but the idea of a global village is a great lesson to teach our children. At the same time, the book does make it easy for its readers as it takes all the global statistics with big numbers (millions/billions), and puts them in real human terms. By comparing the world to a village of 100 people, we all can understand our place in the world's many varied cultures, looking at religion, economics, education, energy use and more. This book can also be tied into other subjects such as math, history, and art as many dimensions of the diverse world are addressed.

[Ann M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not mathematically inclined, but I can handle 100. Consequently, this book has given me a perspective on the world I would never understand through the real numbers represented. Many of the stats astound me. For example, I am surprised by how many people in this village of 100 speak English. It is sold in the 10,000 Villages store where I volunteer and I point it to anyone who seems interested in the books we carry. It would be great in a math class if ratio, or percentage is being taught to students who share my "unmathematicity".

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents statistics about the world from the perspective of 100 people living in a village. It addresses nationalities, languages, ages, religion, food distribution, clean air and drinking water, education, money, electricity, and historical and projected data. There is even a section at the back about how to teach "world mindedness." I think it would be a great book to introduce the big ideas of world studies or even to illustrate percentages and statistics in a more tangible fashion.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept. If the entire world's population was reduced to just 100 people in one village, what would those 100 people be like? How many would be Christian/Muslim/Buddhist? How many would be adults? How many children? Which languages would they speak?

Too difficult to comprehend for most children below grade 5, at least, I think. Could be an interesting addition to middle school math classes on decimals and ratios.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource to help teach children "world-mindedness", Creative illustrations support this book about what if we looked at the world as a village of 100...who are we, where we live, how fast we are growing, what languages we speak, what religions we practice, etc.

Highly Recommend.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helps children (and adults) catch a glimpse of what life is like around the world by imagining there are 100 people and then telling how many of them have enough food to eat, where they live, what languages they speak, etc. With my kids, I've read this just a few pages at a time, stopping to talk about it. Would be great to use in school...and the book includes some good teaching strategies.

[Tiare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another must read for any family. Great for kids and grownups. The statistics in here are fun to read about, but more important, they teach you a valuable lesson about what we have in the world, compared to so many others.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this fascinating. I remember portions of the text were circulating via emails and on the internet before I was aware that they came from a book. And now he's written a similar book about the United States. Can't wait to read that! Highly recommended!

[Ruby Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It has so many opportunities for cross-curricular and thematic learning. The concept of mathematics and sorting through numbers makes it an excellent resource to use in both KS1 and Ks2 mathematics lessons. Further to this, it highlights the concept of global citizenship, tolerance whilst simultaneously exposing children to information texts.
The information can be used to inspire some creative writing about the issues presented in the text, such as lack of energy, differences in schooling, language and culture. It could also be used alongside a fiction text to inform children about the real-life context of the novel. For example, Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins follows the journey of a young girl who seeks to break the constraints of society's views about women. This would be a great way for children to gain an insight into other countries and how their customs and underlying societal beliefs impact the people who live there. It could act as a way for children to write from different perspectives.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great idea for taking the population of the whole world, and making it easier to comprehend for kids: transforming it (to scale) to a village of just 100 people. How many people in our village would be able to read and write? Speak Mandarin? Go hungry every day? Have electricity? Make more than a dollar a day? What would be the age breakdown of our village (spoiler alert: ages 10-19 are the largest group, 79+ is the smallest)? The kids were really surprised by some of the stats, and realized how often they were in the fortunate minority (without me even prompting that thought). I only had two qualms with the book: 1. Some of the numbers are obviously simplified, which can give a skewed picture (but also may be a necessary evil for making the topic more approachable), and 2. This book was published over 20 years ago, so I would love a newer version with updated numbers.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book for children helping them to develop a greater understanding of what goes on in the world. By comparing the world to a village of 100 people, it helps us understand what percentage of people have what experiences. Very socially-oriented, with lack of clean water, hunger, education, etc being top priorities.

Occasionally the comparison leads to slightly funny scenarios, e.g. in the education section they mention that one child would be a child soldier, but having just that one in the village is weird (no adult soldiers are mentioned). But overall the gimmick works well.

I'm ambivalent about the drawings - they didn't feel to me like they added a lot to the story. A bit of visual interest, that's all.

[Dylan.M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book ,If the word were a village is a good book and remember reading it as a kid. Its about a little village of 100 people that represents the hole world and all its problems. It teaches you that some people go to bed hungry and some people don't even eat at all as well as people that don't get fresh water to drink. It's good at tells you the problems of the every day world and to be thank full for what we have and try to save resorsis like food and water for others. As well as schooling ,some people don't get to go to school they have to work to get money to feed there family.The book If the world were a village is a good book and recommend it for teaching kids about the problems of the world and hope you enjoy this book as much as I do.

[Gatto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nonfiction illustrated book. It makes ideas about people in the world comprehensible by positing that there are only 100 people in the world. From the perspective of 100, it talks about the demographics of the world in an easy to understand way.

I think this book is fantastic for elementary and up. When we talk about million and billions of people, the ideas are abstract. This book makes it easier to think about the world population as real people.

This is useful in a variety of classroom settings. I think it would be fun to have students pick a topic that interests them and add a page to the book from the perspective of the world village.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rewrote the page that considered animals as food into a beautiful page that explains all the perils of humanities exploitation of animals for pleasure in numbers. 56 billion land animals are slaughtered for human desire and pleasure, 100 million animals are tortured to death in laboratory experiments, 1.2 trillion aquatic animals are killed for food, bycatch such as turtles and dolphins biggest threat to life as a species is the fishing industry trawlers, netting, and being caught as by-catch. This is a fantastic book and I love the opportunity to creatively tell the truth to my children in numbers.

[Elizabeth Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes a lot to the world around me and I know it could do the same for students. There is a lot of text and numbers involved so I would not go into full detail with younger children but with older children you could do a lot with this book. The illustrations had a lot going on in them, filling all of one page usually, but it helped drive home what the text was trying to say. Overall, this book was really insightful and helpful with learning what the world is truly like and not just what you see in your town or city you live in.