I suspect all of us, at one time or another, played this game: would you rather go sledding or swimming in the ocean? Would you rather eat crickets or grasshoppers? Would you rather live in Arizona or Alaska?

A number of children’s authors have published a whole new collection of Would You Rather books. Available on Amazon in either paperback or electronic version, these are hilarious and surefire conversation starters on a road trip and even the dinner table. The object of the game is to make the other player laugh when posed with: would you rather eat a bowl of pudding filled with nails or drink a cup of hot chocolate full of cat hair? And while one may find this silly, give serious consideration to the question. Certainly, one probably wouldn’t die from cat hair but probably would die from eating nails. But is it possible to eat the pudding without eating the nails?

Would you rather smell a dirty diaper or skunk spray? Would you rather have two tongues that hung out of your mouth to your shoe tops or three purple noses on your posterior? Of course, these books are stuffed with gross kid questions, which are sure to cause laughter, such as would you rather fart and blow up in the air or burp and fall into a pig pen?

To me, any book, which encourages one to think, regardless of the entertaining and ludicrous questions, has value. Books, like these, teach both creativity and intuitiveness. God knows, we need more creative thinkers solving our nation’s issues. As adults, we are continually faced with choices: some good, some not-so good; some consequential, some not. Would I rather go to work or go fishing? Would I rather cook dinner or eat out? Would I rather study for the final or go to Tom’s party? So why not teach our children in a humorous way to make thoughtful and wise choices?

I just opened a beer. Oops! I could have had a V-8!