Review: If Only

If Only
Author & Illustrator: Mies Van Hout
Pajama Press
Ages 4-8

The grass isn’t actually greener on the other side of the gate.

Who among us hasn’t wanted to be someone, or something else, if only for a day? The child in If Only wishes to be a butterfly, so she can fly, not realizing that the butterfly wishes it were a stick insect, and the stick insect wishes it were a whirligig beetle….and so on, and so on, until the last insect wishes it were a child so it could do all the things children do.

“The whirligig beetle thought,
If only I were a firefly.
Then I’d never be scared of the dark.”

Gorgeously illustrated with colorful collages in the tradition of Eric Carle (down to the entomophilia! Look. It. Up.), If Only is a sweet book with an important moral at its core: The grass isn’t actually greener on the other side of the gate.



If Only (Support an Independent Bookstore)*
If Only (Amazon)*

More books for this Age Group can be found here.

My thanks to Pajama Press for providing a Review Copy of this book. All opinions provided herein are my own.

Please, leave comments! I love a HEALTHY exchange of ideas. After all, critical thinking is essential to life.

*When something is purchased using one of our affiliate links, we may earn a small commission. We do not accept any monies for any editorial reviews. Our opinions, to the chagrin of many, are our own.

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