As he drifts off to sleep, a young boy thinks of unusual possibilities, such as whether you would rather an eagle stole your dinner or a hippo slept in your bed. By the author of Come Away from the Water. Reissue

Given the choice, we think most kids would rather read John Burningham's books than taste slug dumplings, jump in nettles, or possibly even dance with a goat. However, in the delightfully silly Would You Rather..., readers are invited to play with these and many other ideas--absurd, gross, or tantalizing. A small mop-topped child lets his imagination run away with such personal challenges as, "Would you rather have supper in a castle, breakfast in a balloon, or tea on the river?" The oversized format is perfect for reading aloud, as long as the reader allows plenty of time for the audience to peruse the award-winning author-illustrator's humorous pictures (in one spread, the protagonist looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here as he is systematically crushed by a snake, swallowed by a fish, eaten by a crocodile, and sat on by a rhinoceros). For TV-weary children who have seen cartoon characters squashed and revived a thousand times, the nightmarish aspects of this reprinted 1978 charmer will not be overly alarming, but the faint of heart may want to look elsewhere for a soothing bedtime story