Product Details

• Actors: David J. Smith
• Format: NTSC, Color, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, Animated
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Master Communications, Inc.
• Run Time: 25 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1604800828
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,828 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Based on the best selling and award-winning book by the same title, If the World Were a Village is an animated story that delivers an important message using a magical metaphor: what if the world with six billion people were a village of just 100 people... By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. If the World Were a Village will encourage viewers to learn about our global village. The languages we speak, what foods we eat, where we live, what religions we practice - what you find may surprise you! "Highly recommended, Editor's Choice" 4 star review in Video Librarian "Unique choice for units on community, geography, and global studies." - School Library Journal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars International Demographics Made Personal, December 14, 2009

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If the World Were a Village: A Story About the World's People (DVD)

David J. Smith's award-winning book, If the World Were a Village: A Book About the World's People has done much to popularize the concept of shrinking the world's population down to a representative 100 citizens and exploring demographic statistics on this much smaller, and therefore more understandable, scale.

In the animated DVD rendition - If the World Were a Village: A Story about the World's People - of Smith's popular work, expressive narrator Jackie Richardson sweeps young viewers into a bucolic village. There the inhabitants are cheerful and good-natured despite gross economic disparities; shielding children from the brutal realities of poverty while still evoking their empathy. The use of consistent named characters helps children to associate accurate demographic facts with colorfully animated characters.

The facts are presented gently without a great deal of sermonizing, but the call to social action is clear in the small acts of kindness that the villagers perform for one another. Questions about the wide spread in education levels, amount of available food, income, clean water etc. are sure to follow this awareness-raising film.

In the fact of such objectivity, a closing statement in the section on world religions is quite surprising. While the creators of the DVD (and possibly the originating book) are clearly in favor of peace throughout the world (as we should all be), the statement that all religions are at their core the same is fallacious at best. Few devoted followers of any of the faiths discussed would agree with such a statement, regardless of their dedication to inter-faith loving kindness.

Increasing numbers of school children find themselves living in bubbles that extend no further than their own communities and states. With the deplorable attrition of the study of world geography in most North American classrooms, engaging springboards like this DVD can (and should) be used to launch into previously unexplored territory, and ignite an interest about the global village in which we live.

Production quality is top-notch with bold, colorful illustrations based on the original title's textured artwork by illustrator Shelagh Armstrong. An enthusiastic, eclectic soundtrack embracing a variety of musical styles from around the world adds greatly to the flavor of the animated feature.

With a total run time of only 25 minutes, the asking price of $29.95 will most definitely seem steep to individual families looking to explore this concept in an animated context. For schoolroom teachers and librarians the cost is more affordable considering that limited public performance rights are included along with the DVD purchase. A four-page free downloadable teaching guide is also available online for free if you search for it.

Little is provided by way of extra features. English subtitles are optional on this English edition of the disc. Chaptering is excellent, allowing educators to zoom in on desired demographics: Nationalities, Languages, Ages, Religion, and so on are chaptered separately for easy navigation from the menu, or while the DVD is playing.

My young children have all found If the World Were a Village: A Story about the World's People a pleasure to watch, proving its aesthetic and interest-maintaining qualities alongside its more apparent educational ones. No librarian's DVD collection should be considered complete without an inclusion of this disc. Homeschoolers, if your library doesn't yet own a copy, ask them to get one, it's worth taking the time to track down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A children's DVD that postulates: what if we imagined the whole world as a village of 100 people?, November 19, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If the World Were a Village: A Story About the World's People (DVD)

Based on the award-winning book, If the World Were a Village is a children's DVD that postulates: what if we imagined the whole world as a village of 100 people? Drawing young viewers on a journey of discovery through the lives of each of the 100 villagers, If the World Were a Village educates about the diversity of languages we speak, foods we eat, where we live, the religions we follow, and more. A delightful exposure to different cultures across the globe, highly recommended especially for public library children's DVD shelves. If the World Were a Village has English, French, and Spanish language options, as well as English subtitles. 25 minutes, closed-captioned, teacher's guide available. Also of interest to pique young people's curiosity about other cultures is the "Families of the World" DVD series, including the recently released "Families of Guatemala".

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Must See DVD for Kids and Adults, October 11, 2009

By 

Jennifer Oldroyd "ceoMom.com" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If the World Were a Village: A Story About the World's People (DVD)

Watching this DVD makes a great family activity. My children absolutely loved it and I found myself completely engaged as well. It also sparked an important conversation in our family about the world we live in and illustrated to our children the concepts of tolerance, acceptance, gratitude and humanity. Here's the first statistic of many interesting insights the DVD shows:

If the world were a village made out of 100 people, 61 would be from Asia, 13 from Africa, 5 from North America, 8 from Central and South America, 12 from Europe and 1 from Oceania (Australia, South Pacific, etc).

This is a must see DVD for your family. I also think this would be a great video to show in classrooms. It is entertaining to watch and guaranteed to create a shift in the way you see the world.