Would You Rather...

by John Burningham

Would you rather have supper in a castle, breakfast in a balloon, or tea on the river? Would you rather be made to eat spider stew, taste slug dumplings, chew mashed worms, or drink a snail shake? In a series of challenges inspired by the beloved game Top That!, John Burningham lets readers' imaginations soar with propositions from the whimsical to the outrageous. Here is a surefire giggle-getter for storytime, perfect for sharing with any child who's ever wanted to do something completely out of the ordinary.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Animals, Teaching, Philosophy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 1984

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bur...

Married to Helen Oxenbury They have one son and two daughters.

John Burningham was born in 1936 in Farnham, Surrey, and attended the alternative school, Summerhill. In 1954 he spent two years travelling through Italy, Yugoslavia and Israel, working at a variety of jobs.

From 1956-1959, he studied at the Central School of Art, after which he designed posters for London Transport and the British Transport Commission. He also spent a year on an animated puppet film in the Middle East. He then became a writer and illustrator of children's books, his first book, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers (1963) winning the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1963, an achievement he repeated with Mr Gumpy's Outing (1970).

Since then, he has written and illustrated many children's books. He is also a freelance designer of murals, exhibitions models, magazine illustrations and advertisements.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Right from the get go the author had my attention and captured my imagination with his first sentence: "Would you rather.... your house were surrounded by water, snow or jungle?" Colorful illustrations complete this fun reading experience.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and thought-provoking book where children are presented with a variety of fantastical options from which to choose--some are delightful ("Would you rather have supper in a castle, breakfast in a balloon, or tea on the river?") but some are lesser of two (or more!) evils (slurping a slug milkshake or swallowing a frog whole!? Do I HAVE to choose!?) The book invites the reader into the story--you really have to think about yourself experiencing each of the scenarios presented, and it's not always pleasant. Still, for kids who love to imagine and aren't easily stressed, I think it would make an engaging and interactive read-aloud and present a great springboard for discussion as both parent and child could discuss some of their hopes and fears as highlighted in the books.

See you for tea on the river ;-)

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! Such a good idea for a book; a nice introduction to philosophy. Burningham's questions require children to think about their likes and dislikes, and state personal preferences. Teachers can then ask children about their responses and encourage them to back up their thoughts with evidence. And yet there are no right or wrong answers! So a very safe space to introduce children to debate, contrasting ideas, and respecting individual differences in thought/belief. Adding monetary values to situations is also very interesting; teachers can do a lot with this, e.g. change the value offered - does this alter the children's original answers? So much to explore!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and thought-provoking book where children are presented with a variety of fantastical options from which to choose which they would rather. Some are extraordinary but some are lesser of two evils (slurping a slug milkshake or swallowing a frog whole? It allows children to really talk, think and make their own choices. The book leads to a text based approach to reading by allowing the children to interact with the book. For children who love to imagine and aren't easily stressed, I think it would make an engaging and interactive read-aloud and present a great springboard for discussion as a whole class or group activity.

The first page depicts a small child with a pet dog, which could either be a boy or a girl! They are very small in comparison to the front door they are standing in front, giving the idea that the child is quite young. Each illustration depicts the actual word so it will help children who have difficulty or are just learning to read. Even if there s more than one illustration on the page they are framed in their own space and quite separate from each other.

Great world to text in has your ‘mum had a row in a café’ in real life and how did you feel?? Children may have pets at home, which in turn may possibly press them to make the choice between the ‘cat to box with’ or ‘ a dog to skate with’.


Activity : http://www.collaborativelearning.org/...

Quiz: http://www.milvertonhsch.co.uk/assets...

[Phoebe Ledster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun read! Would provide brilliant opportunities for discussions with children. Also, the repetitive language would be useful for students with EAL.

[Scott Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little long winded, John creates scenarios that would allow children to really open up their imagination and really engage in big conversations and debates over why they would rather do one thing or another. The illustrations aid the creativity by putting images to otherwise silly thoughts, such as 'being covered in jam'.

[Mairéad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect illustrated prompt for oral language lessons in a primary classroom! Suitable for children aged 4+ this book is full of excellent 'would you rather?' suggestions to inspire rich, imaginative conversations that can be easily tailored to any group of pupils. Definitely one I'll be adding to my teacher library!

[Ros McDermott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early philosophical thinking for kids. Think I’m getting £5 for the nettles idk about you

[Amar Pai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gonna give this 4 stars, but Izzy argued that it should get "all of the stars," and who am I to argue with youthful exuberance.

This book features Burningham's trademark light-hearted whimsical funny-but-you-can't-put-your-finger-on-why-exactly drawing style. It is a series of dilemmas such as, would you rather be made to:

a) eat SPIDER stew
b) taste SLUG dumplings
c) chew mashed WORMS
d) or drink a SNAIL shake

One of my favorite parts was this one. We'd just come from the zoo, where we'd seen an enormous lazy hippo floating in the water. So the outrageous situation of a hippo sleeping in one's bed was chillingly easy to imagine. So offensive that situation!! I think my kids would pick dinner stolen by an eagle cos yay, they don't have to eat.



Also staying one night in a creepy house for $20 seems so obviously better than jumping in nettles for $5 or swallowing a dead frog for $10 that I feel like I must be missing something. Are there ACTUAL ghosts in the house? So what.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve played this game with kids and remember enjoying it myself when I was a kid: choosing among two or three or four or more options of supposedly equal good or bad things. This book will get all the participants talking and thinking.

It was all going so well until I came across a few so called choices of way too disgusting things, none of which I’d ever choose. But, all in all, a very fun exercise. There are some lovely things to contemplate too.

This seems more like an activity to me than a book because it’s not that much fun for the reader/listener unless they join in and choose for themselves. This would be fun to read one on one or with a group, and I’d expect there to be lots of excitement and discussion, especially in a group setting. Great fun!

[Carmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant launch pad to discussion whether you are with one child or with twenty. Just as the title implies, one must choose between a couple of choices...some pleasant and silly, others unpleasant. Not unlike life really. My partner and I play a similar game with each other entitled "This or that."

Not recommended at bedtime as it is likely to wind wee folks up with an endless barrage of silly what ifs....and you know that can go on FOREVER!

[Nabeela Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides a brilliant opportunity to get your class actively involved and design some excellent classroom games such as 'move to this side of the room if you'd rather......'. As teachers, we can also get children discussing their options and ask them why they chose that particular thing, allowing us to penetrate our class' thoughts and opinions,

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book! Everyone reading this will find themselves choosing their answer to the questions, adult and child alike. As a caution, there were some scary choices for young children (3-5)

[Micaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oldie, but a goodie. A fun and imagination-stimulating read. It is adventurous and will make both you and the child you share it with really think. The only issue is the ending... pretty meh.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original “Would you rather?” Copyright 1978! Scenarios range from 2 to 6 choices with the optimal choice reserved for the last page of the book. This would be a fun bedtime book.

[Sue Winson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a very cool concept. Readers are presented with a few different scenarios, and we are asked to choose a "preferred" option. Some of those scenarios are really fun and make me smile. "Would you rather an elephant drank your bath water, an eagle stole your dinner, a pig tried on your clothes, or a hippo slept in your bed." Some are not that fun but still within acceptable range: "would you rather be covered in jam, soaked in water, or pulled through the mud by a dog." 2 years old little-AJ chose the option of being pulled through the mud by dog, and we giggled.

And then the uncomfortable part comes. "Would you rather be made to eat spider stew, slug dumplings, mashed worms, or drink snail squash". The options made me nauseous. The illustrations show an emotionless woman force-feeding a kid with those undesirable foods/drinks. Maybe it is just me, but I think the illustrations look horrifying, like some horror movie with an evil stepmother attempting to poison a kid.

I also don't like the part where the kids were offered different values of money to perform some dreadful tasks- "would you rather jump in the nettles for £5, swallow a dead frog for £20, or stay all night in a creepy house for £50." Again, maybe it is really just me (i.e. an uninteresting adult over-analyzing something that were meant to be fun), I find it uncomfortable that money payment is involved to encourage kids to do something undesirable without much thought about responsibilities and the inherent risks. Staying in a creepy house is not a funny option, and swallowing a dead frog should not be encouraged regardless how much money is being offered.

Then came the worst "would you rather be crushed by a snake, swallowed by a fish, eaten by a crocodile, or sat on by a rhinoceros." I find it creepy that we are asking our kids to choose the "best" way to die or be killed by animals. Again, maybe it is just me. Kids might find this fun and exciting (I don't know).

I am glad the book ends with some lovely options (instead of dwelling on the spooky and yucky ones). "Would you rather clash the cymbals, bang the drum, or blow the trumpet." "Would you rather have a monkey to tickle, a bear to read to, a cat to box with, a dog to skate with, a pig to ride, or a goat to dance with." I love these, but kids might find this part boring and prefer the spooky and yucky ones (I really don't know anymore). Also, I don't like witch (unless you are a cool magician / "witch" in the Harry Potter series), so naturally, I frown when I see the option of helping "a witch to make a stew".

This book obtained really great reviews online from many readers in general. So I think it must be my personal issues for not giving this book a better rating than it deserves. I am never a fan of John Burningham's illustrations. The pictures of this book are okay, but definitely not my favourite style. 2 year-old little-AJ got bored really quickly reading this book, but of course he is still too young to exercise any judgment or apply critical thinking to enjoy this book.

Overall, great concept of book, but there are some parts that I seriously don't like.

Blog review here: https://storypleasemummy.wordpress.co...

[Capn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a great concept, and I see why the BookTrust recommended this one. But I felt it jumped around too much in terms of tone. The tiny audience was horrified that they'd have to choose between being

crushed by a snake, swallowed by a fish, eaten by a crocodile, or sat on by a rhinoceros

The humour wasn't self-evident, and I get it - the page preceding was about performing various unpleasant dares for increasing sums of money (in GBP), and none of those seemed palatable. It was a hard decision (I personally chose jumping in the nettles for 5 pounds, and explained that with overalls on it might not even be so bad... but the tiny audience took the choice between that and swallowing a dead frog for 20 GBP, or staying the night in a haunted house for 50 GBP very seriously and judiciously). To be then presented with a choice of deaths, however ridiculous and unlikely to an adult but equally valid in the eyes of a young child, the wheels rather fell off of this one for us. It was a struggle to get through to the end - the fun was gone, and it seemed very threatening indeed, in spite of my constant reiterations that it was just for fun and meant to be funny ("...but you would die! And stay dead forever!", tears welling up in eyes and all). Dammit.

So perhaps there's an age range here, and the early preschool set isn't the ideal one. ;)

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Birmingham would rather you read this book with a grain of salt. 36 pages of multiple choice stuff, like: would you rather live with a dog in a kennel, a chicken in a co-op, s gerbil in a cage? What? John B would rather we live in cages as opposed to being free? Not sure I get what he's trying to convey. I'd rather give him the benefit of a doubt. He's still a good kid's writer, but this is not his best effort.
Three stars
Unless you'd rather take away one star. I would rather leave that to you.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great discussion book with each page having a would you rather question on it - would be great to discuss the pros and cons of each of these with children. I think this book could be great as an end of the day activity - each time using a different would you rather question and then asking children to justify their reasons. I also think lots of fun games could be created around this book.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zany and almost shocking in places. The words are more than interesting enough for this to be considered an important piece of literature for the young (not to sound too portentous, but despite the fundamental silliness these questions are rather fun and can open up all kinds of chat about feelings and ideas), but of course the illustrations are first rate.

[Lucy Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book includes various questions asking the reader which option they would choose. This is an opportunity for children to bond and discuss openly which option they prefer and why. Children can also create their own situations to ask others.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Would you rather...’ is just like the game many of us have probably played whereby you’re asked what you’d rather do out of a selection of things.

This would be a good book to encourage discussion within the classroom as children would definitely enjoy playing along.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun easy read. The illustrations were nice and went well with the choices. Some of the choices were really simple and easy, but then some were crazy and/or hard and made you think what you would pick.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typically humorous JB. I remember loving the would you rather choices, so I think it will appeal to children, but no great storyline here, just a lot of choices to make. Maybe good for discussion.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made a lesson out of it. http://gardencity-library.blogspot.co...

[Oddly Minty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious!

[Alice Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

To do later x

[Harry Collingwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to love this book as a child. Reading it again with my niece was just as much fun as an adult!

[Kaley Coburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny but also allows students to think and reflect about what they would really rather do

[Kayleigh Lindley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have this 4 stars because it’s not exciting enough.

Jean aged 8