The Boy Who Changed the World

This is the children's version of Andy Andrews The Butterfly Effect which I have also reviewed. The concept of the story is that even the small seeming insignificant things that we do in our life can have a huge impact on others, either directly or indirectly. Andrews illustrates this with the story of Norman Borlaug, nobel prize winner for hybridizing corn, wheat and rice to grow in arid climates. This led to an estimated 2 billion people being saved from starvation because they could now grow crops. However, if you go back a little bit Andrews shows you that perhaps we should give the credit to the VP who instituted the program that hired Borlaug to research a way to do this, or perhaps we should give credit to the young man who fostered in the VP a love and respect for plant life and taught him that plants can save lives. Or maybe we should give credit to the family that sacrificed to save the life of the young man who taught the VP who hired Borlaug who saved starving people from death. Or maybe.....

I have to say, I love this book! It is set up in such a way that my first thoughts while reading it to my children were that it would be perfect to base Sunday School lessons around. Each persons life and actions could be a single lesson. My kids, ages 12, 10 and 2, enjoyed the illustrations and the storyline. My older children quickly comprehended the message. The only thing that I felt was lacking was the point that God has a plan in everything and that He is able to take our small actions and turn them into something wonderful. However, Andrews does include references to God such as "remember God made you to make a difference," and "God made your life so important that every move you make, every action you take, matters..."

This book has a gift page, which is a plus for me because I can see this becoming a go to birthday gift or kindergarten graduation gift for many children in the future. The book also includes a web address for free downloadable curriculum based upon this book for teachers.

This is Andrews first children's novel and it definitely isn't a disappointment!

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