Which Would You Rather Be?: A Charming Picture Book About Humor and Creativity for Kids

by William Steig, Harry Bliss (Illustrator)

Both simple and profound, Which Would You Rather Be? is a modern classic. This charming, kid-friendly picture book comes from a perfectly matched duo. Favorite books from the wildly creative William Steig include Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Shrek! Harry Bliss's many beloved picture books include Steve Martin's Number One Is Walking, the Diary of... books, and Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken. Bliss's warm, accessible art and Steig's winning way with words make this book a treasure for any child—a celebration of humor and creativity.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Mathematics, Kids, Magic

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

William Steig was born in New York City in 1907. In a family where every member was involved in the arts, it was not surprising that Steig became an artist.

He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.

Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rabbit presides over a magic hat, out of which emerges some pretty fantastic choices. Your little ones should have fun mulling over their answers to these amusing questions. With charming artwork by Harry Bliss.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This game like picture book enables children to be interactive with the text as they can step into the shoes of the main characters as a means to answer the quite interesting questions presented throughout the course of the reading. Through the detailed and creative illustrations the main character answers questions as it relates to whether or not he would rather be this or that (the options range from asking would you rather be a cat or dog to would you rather be a girl or a boy). With the explicit illustrations children can easily join in on the reading to help identify the two things the characters have to choose from due to the repetition presented throughout the book. With the repetitive structure and thought provoking questions children can actively engage with the book thus promoting their literacy and language development. At the early years of language development children acquire and build their language by using language in meaningful ways and this is a great resource to do so. This a very effective book to use to activate one-on-one conversations with children. This particular book was meaningful to my experiences reading it with a child because it enabled the child to engage in language beyond reading/repeating the words presented on the pages. The child verbally shared out what he would rather be and he also verbally explained why he decided to select one thing over another. Through the use of this book, the child was inspired and interested in engulfing in language through communication. In short this a great tool to introduce young learners to language, in addition to affording them with the opportunity to develop language usage at the early stages of developing language and literacy.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very simple and I thought it would be too babyish for my second grader. But we had a lot of fun with it. It asks questions like, "Which would you rather be, a stick or a stone?" It was neat hearing my son's responses: "I would rather be a stone because a stick can break!"

Other sample questions: An elbow or a knee? A mouse or an elephant? A boy or a girl? A kid or a grown-up?

So anyway this book is good for regular kids, but would be awesome for an English as a Second Langage class.

[Anthony Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Which would you rather be is a good picture book for children. It provides great illustrations for them so they can see what exactly the story is talking about. A good example of this is when the elephant appears out of the hat, it is gray in color. Other objects that come out of the hat are pretty true to the real life color. This is really helpful for children.Overall it is a small little concept book full of bright colors and I would recommend it for young children in kindergarten

[Mary]

Which Would You Rather Be helps introduce the idea of questions and what making a decision means. The illustrations reinforce that girls can do the same things that boys do. In first grade and kindergarten,students could come up with their own list of "would you rather be's". In pre-k, this is a great way for children to explore large and small large and small and the advantages of each.

[Belmont Storytime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for starting discusions, getting people moving around.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book; a series of questions more so than a true story. It really was interesting to read this one aloud with our girls and hear their responses.

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

[Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books prompts a good discussion.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really much to this book and doesn't have much Steig-style - disappointing

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really great as a read aloud, better as a springboard for conversation one-on-one.

[Robin Raines-Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun interactive book with great pics and thought provoking text.

[TrinaLynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Went over well at story time.
The kids tended to agree with the author.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Which Would You Rather Be?
by William Steig
A concept introduction for kindergarten class. The beginning of the opinion writing for this group of learners. The book uses simple language to introduce the topic of writing, and opinions with the basis of not only showing their opinions but having reasons given for their choice. This book helped the kids understand the concept, and as this was their second or third reedition they could repeat the words of the book.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story that makes the reader think. It is a story of questions starting with "which would you rather be?" Choices are given, such as a stone or a stick?, tall or short?, a sun or a moon? Fun and funny illustrations.

[Eric Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations and should be a good conversation starter with little ones.

[DiAnne Warfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

CADL FB Live story time 1-10-2022

[Marc Brueggemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to a kid and loved it.

[zunggg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun rendering of the age-old game of binary choice.

[Michelle Hodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mommy Bookworm’s Thoughts: Until I read information about the author, I didn’t know he was the creator of Shrek. I read one review online that mentioned it’s odd to have him be the author here instead of the illustrator since he was an artist. I think the concept of the book is cute since the rabbit is the one pulling things out of the top hat instead of the humans. However, I feel there is no real point to the book. I guess it is just to get kids thinking of what they prefer, but there’s no real story to the book other than just asking question upon question upon question – and the kids in the story don’t even answer all of them. The illustrations are VERY colorful and fun though! As I noted above, the reading level is 4-8 years old, but Barnes & Noble has a note saying it’s for infants and preschoolers. I believe that it would be a fun book for younger children because of the illustrations and big words, but children would definitely have to be older in order to actually read the book.

Dahlia Bookworm’s Thoughts: I liked the book because it was funny. The book was interesting because it had weird-looking pictures. The pictures looked funny.

Daisy Bookworm’s Thoughts: I could easily read this book by myself. I like the part where the kids say they’ll have to think about whether they’d want to be together or alone. I also think the part where the bunny asked if you’d rather be rain or snow was funny because one is liquid and one is solid and I thought it was funny because they were opposites. I also like the pictures and all the colors.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

A William Steig book without his familiar accompanying illustrations? It hardly seems possible. However, if another artist was going to be selected as the catalyst to illuminate William Steig's storytelling, then I'm glad that Harry Bliss was the one.

Which Would You Rather Be? is a nice story, with the same feel of simple happiness that defines much of what William Steig produced in his later years. A rabbit asks direct questions of a boy and a girl sitting in front of him, contrasting questions such as, "Would you rather be...A cat or a dog? A boy or a girl? Thunder or lightning?" As the book's illustrator, Harry Bliss skillfully captures the subtle reactions of the boy and girl to each question, creating a fun sense about the whole experience. This book provides some food for thought in all of the comparisons that are presented.

I like Which Would You Rather Be?, and I'd give it one and a half stars. I'm glad that William Steig continued to write books even when he was in his nineties.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that the questions were overwhelming. They just went on and on and a child might get tired of it. But the two kids at story time seemed alright with it. The questions were quite different, too. I enjoyed listening and seeing what Natalie would answer. Most of the time I could correctly guess her response.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book that features a rabbit magician, who poses questions for his audience about which of two choices they would rather be. His magic provides illustrations, and my kids had fun thinking about the questions. It doesn't quite click as a favorite for me, but it was a fun read.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

not sure why but this book appealed to the girls. boring.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rather simple book, not much to it, though I think it might be a good lead-in for young listeners to discuss preferences.

[571 · Rating 5 out of 5]

PreSchool-Grade 1 SLJ
full of funny choices for kids to make- adults can appreciate the humor, great illustrations

[Alma Loredo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rabbit the magician asks the boy and the girl what they would rather be. They have many options that come out of his hat. But they need time to think.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jordan is currently in love with having and making choices, so this story went straight in to her wheelhouse. Some of her choices really surprised me!

[Michelle Nero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that offers great discussion starters...would you rather be a stick or a stone? Thunder or lightning? Alone or together?

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more, but it was inconsistent. There was not a decision after every choice given. Maybe I'm being too picky.