If This Were the World

A pinch of boredom and a spoonful of the right provocation has always proven to be the perfect catalyst for ripe imagination. Stephen Barr cleverly uses this recipe for his upcoming book “𝙄𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙” releasing in February 2026.

When the recess bell goes off yet again, well into the school year, the children have completely run out of play-ideas. That is until a kid holds an orange up in the air and asks, “𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙?” One idea sparks another and imagination takes flight! An orange is tasty but too small to share. A dodgeball is bigger but a mean older kid kicks it away… and the chain of ideas continues!

I loved the creativity, the fast pace and the illustrations which are sure to make it popular among readers.

I also asked Stephen about the inspiration for this book. He says, “…𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣… 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚…” He adds, “𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡, 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙛𝙪𝙣 (𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙗𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨!) 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙩…

”Thank you, Neal Porter Books, for the DRC. Opinion expressed is 100% mine and unbiased!