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Would you rather be a stick or a stone? A cat or a dog? Thunder or lightning? William Steig (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble) teams up with illustrator Harry Bliss (A Fine, Fine School) in this simple picture book that cleverly illustrates the Would you rather... game popularized by the chirp y, leggy Jiminy Cricket. A magician's bunny, equipped with wand and black top hat, asks a boy an... More

Would you rather be a stick or a stone? A cat or a dog? Thunder or lightning? William Steig (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble) teams up with illustrator Harry Bliss (A Fine, Fine School) in this simple picture book that cleverly illustrates the Would you rather... game popularized by the chirp y, leggy Jiminy Cricket. A magician's bunny, equipped with wand and black top hat, asks a boy and a girl which of two things they'd rather be. "A stick?" he asks as he conjures a stick out of the hat. "Or a stone?" he asks as he produces a hovering rock. Of course, the action picks up a little as living creatures start to emerge from the hat. (The kids have to run off, for instance, when they have to choose between a mouse and an elephant.) Grownup or kid? The grownup is a balding businessman reading a newspaper (while sticking out of the magician's hat), the kid is a skateboarding kid zooming out of the hat. The children, usually silent, quickly decide on that one.

If Harry Bliss had to choose between being himself or a bird, he wouldn't decide at all. He would want wings and he "definitely would not eat worms--no way." There's plenty of fodder for a lively read-aloud session here, as kids get creative in their analysis of the pros and cons of being a cat or a dog, etc., etc. For more complicated (and downright odd) choices, try John Burningham's delightful Would You Rather.... (Ages 3 to 6) --Karin Snelson

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