What If Everybody Did That?
Kindergarten-Grade 2—An unnamed boy is forced to consider the consequences of his actions in this cautionary tale about making responsible choices. The narrator commits a series of seemingly minor offenses, such as feeding popcorn to the bears in the zoo, throwing an empty soda can out the car window, sneaking a lick of frosting from a wedding cake, and interrupting the librarian during storytime. Each time, an angry adult admonishes him by asking, "What if everybody did that?" causing him to envision the possible outcomes: sick animals, garbage strewn along the highway, a ruined cake, and chaos at the library. Each spread depicts a different episode. The art on the verso shows the boy committing a thoughtless act, and the recto pictures show what could happen if everyone broke the rules. Madden's experience as a greeting-card illustrator is evident in the variety of expressions shown on the faces of the multicultural cast in the colorful mixed-media drawings. This title could be a useful purchase for libraries looking to add to their collections of character-building books.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT(c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.