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The Kids' Book of Questions: Revised for the New Century
Now more than ever, parents are told how important it is to talk meaningfully to their kids. This is the book that makes it happen. A revised and expanded second edition, The Kids' Book of Questions , with 634,000 copies in print, makes it easy to ask hard questions and fun to answer them. Questions to challenge, questions to provoke. Questions to entertain and expand young minds. Questions about right or wrong, about fears and hopes, ethics, religious beliefs, about why parents act the way they do--even about ruling the world.
Updated to include questions on subjects that have arisen since the book's original publication in 1988--from the internet to issues like school violence and terrorism--the book is a sure way to prod young people into discovering who they really are and what they really believe. There are inquiries into "If you knew you wouldn't get caught, would you cheat on a test by copying someone else's answers?" Intriguing "If you could email any famous person and know they'd read and answer your note, who would you write to and what would you say?" Philosophical "Have you had any personal experiences that lead you to believe in God?" Provocative "After being given a truth pill, what would you say if you were asked to describe your family?"
Kids, and parents, will be amazed to find how far one little question will lead.
Updated to include questions on subjects that have arisen since the book's original publication in 1988--from the internet to issues like school violence and terrorism--the book is a sure way to prod young people into discovering who they really are and what they really believe. There are inquiries into "If you knew you wouldn't get caught, would you cheat on a test by copying someone else's answers?" Intriguing "If you could email any famous person and know they'd read and answer your note, who would you write to and what would you say?" Philosophical "Have you had any personal experiences that lead you to believe in God?" Provocative "After being given a truth pill, what would you say if you were asked to describe your family?"
Kids, and parents, will be amazed to find how far one little question will lead.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 1988
6 people are currently reading
211 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 16, 2007
As the title suggests, this book is relevant only for young children (elementary aged). However, it does have some good, beginning ethical questions that teachers can use as discussion points or journal topics. It could also be appropriate for adults to read with their children.
May 17, 2016
It was ok. I liked the thinking process for the questions asked.
May 28, 2023
A book that was checked out for my niece while we skimmed through it in a lengthy yet inconclusive ER visit of three hours. Honestly as I was looking flipping through it I believed the book to be of a much newer publication date than 1988 thus was surprised with some of the questions as they seem to be politically incorrect with the mess that is our society today.
As such some of these possibly insensitive questions include:
While on vacation you get a ride to the beach with a friend's parents and find that some people are bathing nude. Would you want to stay and watch or leave?
If you could have some friend be your slave for a day and do anything you wanted, what would you ask for? Pretend your friend wouldn't get upset no matter what you wanted.
If you liked your uncle a lot, and if one day when you were alone together he tried to touch you in a way that felt wrong to you, would you tell someone, try to pretend it hadn't happened, try to avoid him, or do something else? What would you do if the same thing happened again?
Would you rather see all sex or all violence censored from television? Why?
If, by wishing it, you could have every person in the world wake up and have the same skin color, would you want that to happen?
Would you rather change out of a wet bathing suit in a crowded public locker room, or wait until you could change in private when you got home an hour later?
Otherwise the rest of the 260 questions included in this book are just basic-of-the-mill questions that children may have on any given basis whether they are private thoughts, fun questions, growing beliefs or moral/ethical quandaries. As such they fit the goal in the Introduction of giving the reader a chance to question themselves and start to curry their own beliefs. And although this book is suggested as a fun game for between friends there would be some questions that I think an older or more experienced reader may want to discuss with much younger readers and other questions that are best avoided with friends, especially the ones seeking your response to them or making you choose something about friend.
Unfortunately, though, the book also does contain questions that may be considered triggers for those who have had/are having traumatic childhoods so some caution does need to taken in those possible cases.
The format is that basically two or three questions are found per page and although not a requirement there is space underneath if the reader does want to write down their answers to perhaps come back to in the future.
Otherwise if you are looking for a Q&A book that helps to explore some of the older issues that previous generations have worried and thought about this will make for a good start or at least give the reader an option to pass a few hours away.
As such some of these possibly insensitive questions include:
While on vacation you get a ride to the beach with a friend's parents and find that some people are bathing nude. Would you want to stay and watch or leave?
If you could have some friend be your slave for a day and do anything you wanted, what would you ask for? Pretend your friend wouldn't get upset no matter what you wanted.
If you liked your uncle a lot, and if one day when you were alone together he tried to touch you in a way that felt wrong to you, would you tell someone, try to pretend it hadn't happened, try to avoid him, or do something else? What would you do if the same thing happened again?
Would you rather see all sex or all violence censored from television? Why?
If, by wishing it, you could have every person in the world wake up and have the same skin color, would you want that to happen?
Would you rather change out of a wet bathing suit in a crowded public locker room, or wait until you could change in private when you got home an hour later?
Otherwise the rest of the 260 questions included in this book are just basic-of-the-mill questions that children may have on any given basis whether they are private thoughts, fun questions, growing beliefs or moral/ethical quandaries. As such they fit the goal in the Introduction of giving the reader a chance to question themselves and start to curry their own beliefs. And although this book is suggested as a fun game for between friends there would be some questions that I think an older or more experienced reader may want to discuss with much younger readers and other questions that are best avoided with friends, especially the ones seeking your response to them or making you choose something about friend.
Unfortunately, though, the book also does contain questions that may be considered triggers for those who have had/are having traumatic childhoods so some caution does need to taken in those possible cases.
The format is that basically two or three questions are found per page and although not a requirement there is space underneath if the reader does want to write down their answers to perhaps come back to in the future.
Otherwise if you are looking for a Q&A book that helps to explore some of the older issues that previous generations have worried and thought about this will make for a good start or at least give the reader an option to pass a few hours away.
November 5, 2020
At least it can be said that this book of questions is far better than the equivalent for adults. That is not to say that it is a wonderful book, because the author still has a way of thinking that he is far more deep than he is and the questions that are asked are sometimes repetitive and not as clever as the author is aiming for. But all things considered, I think that a family could appreciate the questions that are asked. And as is often the case, I think that this book is worth reading for those who are not children themselves. Whatever is marketed to children is in general worth reading or seeing by older people simply because it reveals the sorts of things that people think of as being suitable and what sort of agendas that the writers have. In this particular case there are certain issues that appear over and over again about pleasing parents and dealing with bullying and teasing and the like, as well as questions of courage and honesty. These themes are repeated over and over again, sometimes seeming like repeats, throughout the book, and it is clear that the author wants the reader to think of oneself as being brave and courageous in standing up against crowds.
As is frequently the case in a book like this, the book reveals far more about the author and about his thinking process than about children. The author's interest in ethical dilemmas is quite evident, and so is the author's evident desire to create space for awkward conversation in the guise of honesty. As such, this is a book that I preferred to read, so that I could think about what the author was trying to accomplish, rather than to deal with the questions in terms of how I would answer them or how someone else would answer them, because it seemed obvious that this book is sort of like one of those games whose design it is to cause drama in the lives of the people playing it and to wrong-foot and make someone feel uncomfortable because of what is being asked. I didn't find this book to be very charitable, and I was intrigued by how the author seemed to assume that the readers were not necessarily going to be the most ethical of people, which is all the more striking because for this work to have its intended result of creating problems for people, the people answering the questions need to be uncomfortably honest.
As is frequently the case in a book like this, the book reveals far more about the author and about his thinking process than about children. The author's interest in ethical dilemmas is quite evident, and so is the author's evident desire to create space for awkward conversation in the guise of honesty. As such, this is a book that I preferred to read, so that I could think about what the author was trying to accomplish, rather than to deal with the questions in terms of how I would answer them or how someone else would answer them, because it seemed obvious that this book is sort of like one of those games whose design it is to cause drama in the lives of the people playing it and to wrong-foot and make someone feel uncomfortable because of what is being asked. I didn't find this book to be very charitable, and I was intrigued by how the author seemed to assume that the readers were not necessarily going to be the most ethical of people, which is all the more striking because for this work to have its intended result of creating problems for people, the people answering the questions need to be uncomfortably honest.
June 3, 2022
Ovo je moja Karolina poslednje donela iz biblioteke i moram da je preporučim. Mislila je da je knjiga poput kviza jer jako voli kvizove, medjutim knjiga je daleko interesantnija za interakciju deteta i roditelja. Zahvaljujući njoj ćete bolje upoznati svoje dete, na osnovu vrlo prostih pitanja poput ''Šta bi promenio kod mame? '' i '' Kada bi se našao u situaciji da je tvom drugu potrebna zaštita, šta bi uradio, kako bi ga zaštitio ?, ''Kako si se osećao/la u trenutku kada su neka deca bila pozvana na rodjenan a tebe su izostavili ? '' i sl.
Ima mnogo maštovitih pitanja i kroz igru stavljanja deteta u situaciju u kojoj jeste ili nije bilo, raspoznajemo koji su to mehanizmi nošenja sa odredjenom situacijom. To ih kasnije navede da se nadovežu na neki primer ako su tako nešto doživeli i da se otvore o tome. Takodje, značiće roditeljima koji su previše strogi prema sebi ili smatraju da možda nisu uvek dobri roditelji, jer ćete videti kako vas dete posmatra. U mom slučaju, iznenađenje jeste bilo veliko da, Karolina, uprkos mojoj strogoći mene vidi u svetlu u kom sebe nikad ne bih očekivala da vidim-a to je da ona shvata odakle i zašto ta strogoća postoji i čemu je namenjena. Osim što kod mene ne bi ništa menjala, iako je ponudjen odgovor da odabere manje strogu mamu koja detetu kupuje telefon, recimo u prvom razredu, iako smo mi dogovorile da svoj neće dobiti barem do trećeg/četvrtog, ona je meni odgovorila-Hvala mama, ali ja ne želim da izgubim detinjstvo. Telefon ću imati ceo život, a samo jednom sam dete.
Slične i još maestralnije odgovore očekujte od vaše dece, i spremite maramice jer neka pitanja zaista ne ostavljaju roditelje ravnodušnima.
Ima mnogo maštovitih pitanja i kroz igru stavljanja deteta u situaciju u kojoj jeste ili nije bilo, raspoznajemo koji su to mehanizmi nošenja sa odredjenom situacijom. To ih kasnije navede da se nadovežu na neki primer ako su tako nešto doživeli i da se otvore o tome. Takodje, značiće roditeljima koji su previše strogi prema sebi ili smatraju da možda nisu uvek dobri roditelji, jer ćete videti kako vas dete posmatra. U mom slučaju, iznenađenje jeste bilo veliko da, Karolina, uprkos mojoj strogoći mene vidi u svetlu u kom sebe nikad ne bih očekivala da vidim-a to je da ona shvata odakle i zašto ta strogoća postoji i čemu je namenjena. Osim što kod mene ne bi ništa menjala, iako je ponudjen odgovor da odabere manje strogu mamu koja detetu kupuje telefon, recimo u prvom razredu, iako smo mi dogovorile da svoj neće dobiti barem do trećeg/četvrtog, ona je meni odgovorila-Hvala mama, ali ja ne želim da izgubim detinjstvo. Telefon ću imati ceo život, a samo jednom sam dete.
Slične i još maestralnije odgovore očekujte od vaše dece, i spremite maramice jer neka pitanja zaista ne ostavljaju roditelje ravnodušnima.
December 30, 2020
The Kid’s Book of Questions
Plot: I like the way the introduction of this book describes it. It says that so many questions have right or wrong answers. But this isn’t that kinda book. In this book, there are no wrong or right answers. Only honest ones. “Some of the questions are playful. Some are silly. Others are serious and focus on hard dilemmas. They raise issues such as dealing with authority, understanding friendship, handing social pressures, overcoming fears, and deciding what’s right or wrong.” It encourages the reader to not give yes or no answers and to try to explore why you (or other people) respond the way they do. As sometimes the reasons will be more interesting than the answers. It was fun answering these 260 questions (which I’ll post on my blog). Some of them I had to try to revert back to my younger self to try to answer the question. Some I just answered as an adult. This would be a good book to have if you took a car trip and you had kids, or maybe you were trying to get a kid that didn’t talk that much to open up. Or just used as a conversation starter. Only the downside is after a while unless you have an Edward Cullen they might get tired of answering questions and throw the book at you or out the window. Definitely let them for air after a few of em. Some of the questions were repetitive (I found myself answering the same questions about my best friend and some about what would make my parents better, But overall they were interesting and some actually did require some thought. Overall this was fun. I really enjoyed it and it kept my mind occupied all day.
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Rating: 8 (A great time killer!)
Plot: I like the way the introduction of this book describes it. It says that so many questions have right or wrong answers. But this isn’t that kinda book. In this book, there are no wrong or right answers. Only honest ones. “Some of the questions are playful. Some are silly. Others are serious and focus on hard dilemmas. They raise issues such as dealing with authority, understanding friendship, handing social pressures, overcoming fears, and deciding what’s right or wrong.” It encourages the reader to not give yes or no answers and to try to explore why you (or other people) respond the way they do. As sometimes the reasons will be more interesting than the answers. It was fun answering these 260 questions (which I’ll post on my blog). Some of them I had to try to revert back to my younger self to try to answer the question. Some I just answered as an adult. This would be a good book to have if you took a car trip and you had kids, or maybe you were trying to get a kid that didn’t talk that much to open up. Or just used as a conversation starter. Only the downside is after a while unless you have an Edward Cullen they might get tired of answering questions and throw the book at you or out the window. Definitely let them for air after a few of em. Some of the questions were repetitive (I found myself answering the same questions about my best friend and some about what would make my parents better, But overall they were interesting and some actually did require some thought. Overall this was fun. I really enjoyed it and it kept my mind occupied all day.
[
Rating: 8 (A great time killer!)
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October 23, 2025Kids love to be asked questions almost as much as they love to ask them. And asking is important—parents know the value of having meaningful conversations with their kids, especially as family time is under continuous assault from gadgets and devices. Now the book that solves those needs is back—announcing a fresh new edition of The Kids’ Book of Questions. Including subjects like the Internet, school violence, and climate change, the book remains a timeless treasure. Here is a collection of questions designed to challenge, entertain, provoke, and expand young minds. These are the questions that let kids discover how they feel; let people know what they think; raise issues that everyone loves to discuss. Gregory Stock, author of the original #1 bestselling Book of Questions, took his question-asking ways into schools and came back with over 200 questions, including Thorny dilemmas: Would you rather have a job you didn’t like that paid a lot or a job you loved that paid just enough to get by? Embarrassing challenges: Would you kiss someone in front of your whole class for $250? Provocative ideas: What things do you think your parents do just to set an example for you? Intriguing fantasies: If you could text any famous person and be sure they’d read and answer your text, who would you write to and what would you say? There is only one requirement: Give an honest answer. Then be amazed to see where one little question leads.
January 7, 2022
Don't settle for less than what you consider the best.
dnf
May 30, 2023DNF(t)
September 15, 2023
A must-have tool for therapists working with children or adolescents.
March 14, 2017
My kids really dig this book. It's a great way to get my quiet 11 year old to open up.
March 3, 2012
I bought this book after reading this wonderful MeFi thread. Our family has spent whole evenings sitting in a circle reading from it. Those conversations have been hilarious, serious, probing, and fascinating. I wish there were five other books like this - I would buy them all.
September 9, 2007
Book has a lot of questions that are pretty appropriate for kids between the ages of about 8 and 14. Some of them are simple yes or no questions while the majority could lead to some interesting discussions.
July 20, 2010
Read this on a trip with my kids and nephews. They really got into answering the questions and it sparked a lot of good discussions. It was fun to see them reading it to eachother and talking about it too.
August 25, 2007
151 - If everyone in your class began teasing and picking on your best friend, and you knew that if you stayed friends everyone would start picking on you, would you stay friends?
January 4, 2017
I love using the questions here as writing prompts.
October 1, 2012
Good conversation starters.
March 3, 2009
We ask questions from the book. I'm learning things about my kids that I never knew.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews