If . .

Every year we read Sarah Perry's book If . . . I introduce it by telling the children that the woman who wrote this book, asked herself some "what if" questions, then painted pictures of the answers: "If frogs ate rainbows," "If toes were teeth," "If clothes were butterflies," "If worms had wheels." Her watercolors are hilarious, thoughtful, grotesque, and beautiful. Both children and adults laugh, ah ha, and ewww, their way through this Getty Trust publication.

The final page of the book challenges readers to "think up some more," which is what we do, making our own class-created If . . . book. We've been doing this for years. Typically, a handful of kids engage with the process, but this year's class really dove in. I thought I'd share of few of their pages. My telephone camera photography doesn't do them justice, but I think you'll get the idea.

"What if kittens were pencils"

"What if hearts had butts."

"What if vaginas were penises"

"What if girls were boys"

"What if slides were hats"

"What if hearts had butts" (she was working on the theme)

"What if a shoe was a hat"

"What if bunnies had two sets of ears"

"What if clouds were body parts"

"What if toes were fingers"

"What if shoes had butts" (obviously inspired by the genius of those who came before him)

"What if a head was an eye"

"What if heads were eyes" (he explained that this second version was our book's cover)

"What if the Earth was funny" (those are oddly shaped continents)

"What if princesses were cats"

"What if beans never left the sensory table" (beans from the sensory table were all over the floor as he created this)

"What if the whole Earth was crazy"

"What if beans came out of your pants" (inspired by beans literally falling out of this pants)

"What if hats wore hats"

"What if paint brushes were houses"

"What if hearts were plants" (taking the inspiration another direction)

"What if heads were feet"

"What if bodies were clouds"

"What if pencils had arms"

If this is the end, then make up some more. ~Sarah Perry

I put a lot of time and effort into this blog. If you'd like to support me please consider a small contribution to the cause. Thank you!

-->