Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Voice from the future paints topsy-turvy world for laughs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
An unnamed narrator who claims to be from the future begins THE FUTURE BOOK by saying, "Lots of things are different here in the future." He then gives examples for the rest of the book, among them: The sun is called the moon and the moon is called the sun, morning is called night and night is called morning, there's no word for apples because "We don't have apples in the future," and "In the future lots of people are named Charlie Cheese Face." Page after page, things get sillier and sillier. "We don't say 'Goodbye!' We say 'You smell like a baby!'" And after many more examples, the narrator from the future bids readers adieu with that phrase.
Is It Any Good?
This playful exercise in imagining how different things might be in years or centuries after our own time invites kids to get silly and react to outlandish ideas of normal. The Future Book presents an alternative reality, where "Bananas are called apples" and "Cats are now called meowing life forms," but "Dogs are still called dogs," and "the lowest number is no longer 'one.' It's one bazillion. This was confusing at first, but now, in the future, we are used to it." After reading Mac Barnett's subversive, norm-busting book, maybe kids will be used to the idea that things are more subjective than we thought. And Shawn Harris' bright ink and gouache illustrations will help them come to that conclusion.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the picture of the future laid out in The Future Book. How do you think things will be different years from now compared with how they are now? What do you think would be cool to see in the future?
What does the future mean? Is it just about things we don't have yet, like flying cars? Or is it also about the way we might talk that could be different from how we talk now?
What things we have now might people in the past have been curious about? Do you think they imagined cars or or cell phones or TV?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Shawn Harris
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Fantasy
- Character Strengths : Communication , Curiosity
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : March 3, 2026
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : March 3, 2026
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