Editorial Review For The World Is Yours
Dounia is the kid in class who does not have an answer when the teacher asks what everyone wants to be later in life. Everyone else seems sure, and she feels stuck. So she goes out to the garden to talk with her mother. Together they walk through everything she likes and everything she is good at, from helping others to cooking and loving plants. Each idea turns into a bigger dream. She could be a doctor for unicorns and dragons, an animal chef, a designer of special tree houses, an astronaut who teaches kids about space, and even the Pumpkin Queen running a huge pumpkin patch. In the end, Mama shows her that grown ups can have more than one job and that dreams can change over time. Dounia realizes she does not need to choose only one future and that the world really is open to her.
The strongest part of this book sits in the way imagination grows from one idea to the next. Every possible job becomes more playful and specific. A doctor is fine, but a doctor for magical creatures is the one Dounia actually wants to talk about. A chef is fine, but an animal restaurant with carrot cake for bunnies and seed cakes for birds feels much more fun. The story keeps that pattern going without losing track of the quiet talk in the garden. The relationship between Dounia and Mama stays steady, even while the jobs keep getting bigger. The examples of real adults who already balance more than one role also land well, so the message does not feel like pure fantasy. Dounia basically builds a whole resume before she even finishes one afternoon in the yard, and it works.
This story fits neatly with picture books that focus on careers, big dreams, and family talks about the future. It uses a familiar setup, the classic class question about what you want to be, but it twists it toward choice and change instead of one fixed answer. The mix of realistic jobs and fantastical spins gives it the feel of a career book and a daydream at the same time. The idea that adults can hold more than one role and that dreams can shift as you grow ties it to newer stories that tell kids there is more than one path and that life can hold a few at once.
Young readers who feel pressure to have an answer for everything will likely see themselves in Dounia. Kids who enjoy animals, space, magic, or big food ideas will also latch onto the specific jobs she imagines. Teachers can use this in class for a talk about future plans that does not end with one short answer per child. Caregivers who juggle different jobs might smile at Mama’s examples and might even feel a little called out in a kind way. This review uses only the content provided in the manuscript.
Overall, The World Is Yours feels like a gentle nudge to think wide instead of narrow. It respects kids who cannot pick just one thing, and it quietly gives them permission to dream in many directions. If you like the idea of a kid answering the “What do you want to be” question with about ten careers and a moon mission, this book belongs on your shelf.
