Title: You Can Change The World
Author: Richie Hrivnak
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-5245-8721-5
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
Pages: 30
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller
Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
In Richie Hrivnak’s illustrated children’s nonfiction book titled You Can Change The World, the author has a score of positive statements to be told to toddlers accompanied by colored pencil and watercolor drawings. With such a brief book of words, we have to look at the interleaved drawings as pictures which tells us 1,000 words each, we all know. I was captivated by each of the drawings when I was focusing on the actual hand pattern of the pencil lines and brush strokes of the watercolor, filling in a solid space for example, which brought to my viewer’s mind the time and patience the artist put into each of the pictures.
What Richie Hrivnak has achieved is a book which when read at bedtime becomes a lulling, comforting and positive reinforcement of good, wholesome values to make children better and perhaps motivating them to change their world, little by little. These statements, being read to babies and toddlers, while allowing the child’s eye to view the drawings – actually achieves the goal of having a repetitive imprinting of positive influences “lovingly drilled” into the malleable minds of the children. In a way, this repetitive reinforcement is hypnotic and I believe can have a long lasting positive effect on building a foundation of thought patterns. While I paged the book, I felt the feeling work its magic into my own adult mind, realizing at the end of the book just what has taken place.
For a book to achieve such a mental bond with such simplicity in a galley text yet adorned with such depth in the detail of simple drawings, I must give this book a star rating of excellence. It is also encouraging to see the author photo of Mr. Hrivnak being a young man himself; as this is different than most of the grandparent-aged authors proliferating children’s book in this popular genre.
You Can Change The World is an amazing book for the youngest of babies and children to have their parents read this to them – time and time again, lulling their little minds off to a place in which modesty, kindness and generosity prevail. This is an excellent book to be given as a gift at a baby shower, or upon the birth of a new family member. I would further recommend it be read in its paper version, as not to have the distraction of the backlighted electronic image deter from the pictures, and this way can be kept in a family library to be used again someday – teaching another youngster the ways in which they can make their world better.
