If Kids Ran the World

Two-time Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon show children playfully creating a more generous, peaceful world where everyone shares with others.

All roads lead to kindness in this powerful final collaboration between Leo and Diane Dillon. In a colorful tree house, a rainbow of children determine the most important needs in our complex world, and following spreads present boys and girls happily helping others. Kids bring abundant food to the hungry; medicine and cheer to the sick; safe housing, education, and religious tolerance to all; and our planet is treated with care. Forgiveness and generosity are seen as essential, because kids know how to share, and they understand the power of love.The book closes with examples of fun ways to help others--along with FDR's "Four Freedoms" and "The Second Bill of Rights," which illuminate these concepts.A tribute to peace and a celebration of diverse cultures, this last collaboration by the Dillons captures the wondrous joy of all people, and the unique beauty within each one of us shines forth. If kids ran the world, it would be a better place--for grown-ups, too.

Leo & Diane Dillon are two of the most acclaimed illustrators of our time. They collaborated for more than five decades. Their long list of awards includes two Caldecott Medals, the NAACP Image Award, five Coretta Scott King Awards and Honors, four Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, and induction into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. Leo and Diane created award-winning picture books, book covers, magazines, and other art until Leo’s death in 2012. Love and the Rocking Chair is their final collaboration. Diane Dillon lives in Brooklyn, New York.