22 February 2011 THIS CHILD, EVERY CHILD: A BOOK ABOUT THE WORLD'S CHILDREN by David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong, ill., Kids Can Press, February 2011, 36p., ISBN: 978-1-55453-466-1

"I am a child, I'll last a while.

You can't conceive of the pleasure in my smile."

-- Neil Young

"When children around the world are asked what sport they most like to participate in, swimming is number one in every country except India.  There, cricket is number one.  After swimming come soccer, cycling, basketball, and athletic events, such as running, jumping and throwing."

David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong are back with another illustrated book to complement IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE and IF AMERICA WERE A VILLAGE.  This time, they are focused on the world's 2.2 billion children.

"Of the 30 countries with the lowest percentage of children, 27 are in Europe.  Of the 30 countries with the highest percentage of children, 25 are in Africa."

In a bit of a departure from their previous two books, the organization of THIS CHILD, EVERY CHILD takes inspiration from the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.  In juxtaposing the intriguing (and sometimes dispiriting) facts about the lives of children from around the world with the Articles of the UN document, readers are provided a good sense of how different children face different challenges. 

Childhood living isn't always easy to do.

"Nearly 40 percent of all homeless children live in Latin America and 20 percent live in India.  They spend their lives on the streets, alone or as part of a street family, or in an institution, such as an orphanage."

Beyond the facts, each illustrated two-page spread also includes passages about individual children, from various corners of the world, whose lives illustrate the diversity of circumstances enjoyed by the world's children.  

"By age 25, about 90 percent of males and 85 percent of females are literate, which means they can read and write."Many countries do better than this, but other countries do not.  Most of the world's illiterate adults (those who cannot read or write) live in just a small number of countries.  In China, for example, only 7 percent of the people are illiterate.  But because China has so many people, that means there are 92 million Chinese people who are illiterate.  Here are the percentages for a few other countries and the approximate number of illiterate people: Bangladesh 47.5 percent are illiterate (85 million people); Pakistan 46 percent (83 million); India 37 percent (421 million); Egypt 34 percent (28 million); Nigeria 28 percent (42 million); Brazil 10 percent (19 million); and Indonesia 8 percent (18 million)."

Just think about that: There are fifty percent more people in India who cannot read and write than there are total people in the United States.

"But tell me, where do the children play?"

-- Cat Stevens

The charm of all three books Smith and Armstrong have together crafted is that a tremendous amount of information is conveyed in a manner that is always clear and interesting without becoming overwhelming in its delivery.  This makes THIS CHILD, EVERY CHILD a stellar piece of informational literature for children.