If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries by Judith Viorst

If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries Reviews

• 
  Danette

  2022 A book with 100 pages or less
• 
  Aneesa

  Another book by Judith Viorst! Andrea described her as a character actor: "Oh my god, I've seen you in a million things."
  
  I recognized it immediately when browsing the library's online catalog and found that I remembered lots of the poems. I must have read it a lot in middle school.
• 
  Paige Cedergreen

  Personal Reaction: I liked this book, I thought that it was very similar to Shel Silverstein's poetry that I read as a kid. It is written as the thoughts that kids have about their world and growing up so I feel like it is more easily relatable to them.
  
  I would use this book for the beginning of a poetry unit for 2nd-4th grade. The book is split into different categories, some are just split based on what object the poems in that section are about and some sections are split based on the type of poem. This book has lyric poems, fairytales, and even some nonsense and narration poems. I would use it to introduce a poetry lesson and read a different one from each section to begin to talk about the widely different categories of poems that there are and the characteristics that separate them. Aside from how the book is organized, each poem uses a good amount of figurative language and different aspects such as repetition and rhythm which help establish a flow to the poems. Of course there is also the use of other elements of poetry such as rhyme, both contrived and natural just depending on the poem. Throughout the poetry unit I would continue to read a couple different poems everyday to begin to show students the different sounds to each poem and increase their understanding and enjoyment of poetry.
• 
  Lindsay

  This was the first book that made me think I could be a writer. As a kid, I was surprised that someone else had had thoughts that I had had. It put the idea in my head that maybe I could share my thoughts with the world and it might touch someone and make them feel less lonely as this book had done for me. I'm still working on that writer idea.
• 
  Stephanie

  This was one of my absolute favorite books growing up. My mom and I used to sit together reading it, just laughing our heads off. I love Viorst's take on life and how she expresses a child's point of view so perfectly. I love this book so much, my copy is falling apart!
• 
  Literary Mama

  My paternal grandmother used to visit us only once a year, but she stayed for six weeks. During her summertime visit, we baked cookies, made gnocchi, and played Zim-Zam (which is essentially tether ball played with a tennis ball and racket). Then, in the afternoons, my sisters and I would sit around the kitchen table reading books with Grandma. One of our go-to books was Judith Viorst's If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and Their Parents, and to this day, I can't think of it without calling to mind fond memories of Grandma and summertime. The poems in this collection are laced with both humor and wisdom, something I recognize now but didn't as a child, and I have to say that Viorst was on to something. She knew how to make everyone laugh with relatable situations and wry amusement. Our favorite poem? A nine-lined gem titled 'Remember Me?' that ends with these three lines: 'Or will they only say / He stepped in the dog doo / At Jimmy Altman's party?' Even now, as I write this blurb, I hear Grandma's squeal of delight and her inability to keep a straight face when reading the conclusion of the poem. If you've never had the chance to pick up this book, I encourage you to do so.
• 
  Margie

  I recently remembered the title poem of this book while thinking of something else. Don' t we all wish we were in charge of the world and have our own lists of what we would alter? Great read for children as well as parents, teachers, caregivers, etc.
• 
  Melissa

  Oh yeah, the dog poem!
• 
  Erin Denae

  This poetry was okay but not anything spectacular. There have been poems that have stayed with me since I was a kid and none of these had that feel.
• 
  Art

  I love this book.
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  Relyn

  I love the title poem, but not the rest.
  
  I've used this many years, but I found my students like it less and less as time goes on. I guess it's just really dated.
• 
  Jodi

  I really liked the one about The Little Mermaid.
• 
  Lauren Gibson

  I read If i were in Charge of the World and Other Worries by Judith Viorst.
  SUMMARY: This poetry book has many themes that were very relatable to children. It talks about some trouble s that children seem to think are huge when they are young, but in reality they are very small and silly problems.
  CRITIQUE: This book had a few illustrations, but when they did they matched perfectly with the text. They have many poems on the same page, so the poems were short and sweet. I noticed that most of the poems rhymed and they continued the same pattern through the poem. Most of the poems also had a positive stretch. They were all upbeat and they didn't dwell on children being rebellious or acting out.
  RESPONSE: This book is different then most that i have read. My favorite poem was the "Short Love Poem". I had neer read this book before and i really enjoyed it and would encourage people of all ages to pick it up to enjoy.
• 
  Ris

  I picked up this book with a few others in search of a collection to share with the little kids in the family and introduce them to poetry. This one will not make the cut. The sense of humor falls a little flat at best--perhaps due to the generation gap between myself and the intended audience in 1981. Some of the poems seem to lean towards the higher end of the middle-reader scale, but those sound stale and dated to me. The ones geared towards the younger ones didn't sit very well with me either. They didn't necessarily promote bad lessons, but nor was there much benefit to them. There were a couple of cute poems in this short collection, but overall I don't think I would recommend it.
• 
  Jennifer

  If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and their Parents, is a collection of short poems by Judith Viorst. The topics touch on the fears and uncertainties that children will relate to such as the difficulty of apologizing and wanting to fit in with peers.
  
  Themes: Power/control, wishes, worries
  Published: 1981
  Grades 2-4
  
  Classroom use:
  
  Have students write their own "If I were in Charge of the World" poem. Younger students could cut out pictures and make a collage of things they would change if they were in charge.