WHAT IF EVERYBODY DID THAT?

Think before you act, little one. Javernick presents a series of small infractions, 13 in all, committed by a clueless little boy. These include feeding the bears at the zoo, standing up on the school bus, rushing onto a football field to get a player’s autograph, littering from a moving car, shooting a straw wrapper into the air at a restaurant, interrupting the librarian during storytime to ask a question, throwing his coat on the floor at school, etc. Each incident ends with a humorless, scolding adult pointedly asking, “What if everybody did that?” Madden’s mixed-media illustrations are colorful and detailed, devoting one spread to each faux pas. The left-hand page depicts the little boy caught in flagrante by a scowling adult; the right-hand page depicts his imagining the consequences of “everybody doing that.” This head-on approach may not be to all tastes. The chastising adults look frighteningly imposing, and, though at book’s end the little boy’s positive act (a loving hug) is amply rewarded, there’s no indication of lessons learned. (Picture book. 3-7)