3 Stars

The Boy Who Changed the World tells the story of the boy who invented a new type of corn that would grow in arid climates, thereby feeding over 2 million people. Except maybe it wasn’t him who should get credit for feeding those people, maybe it should be the man who hired him. Or the man who taught him, or the man who saved him. You get the idea- no one can truly receive credit, because they all had a hand in it.

For children of the right age, this story is a wonderful conversation starter. In the end, it’s not clear if the credit should be shared, or if the point of the story is that you should never take credit for anything because no idea was yours alone. Obviously, the point is that even though you might not see it today, your actions could have effects in another lifetime. Just be careful if you have cynical (pre)teens around.

The Boy Who Changed the Worldis wonderfully illustrated and paced well, and kept the attention of my 1 & 2 year olds until the end, which is no easy feat.