In How to Have a Thought, Sibert Medalist Nicholas Day (A World Without Summer; The Mona Lisa Vanishes) and illustrator Hadley Hooper (Jump for Joy) give young readers an inspiring nonfiction picture book biography of Charles Darwin that uses his well-known meditative walking practice as a kickoff point.
"First you need a rock.... Next, find a stick.... Finally, trace a loop." This, Day says, is how Charles Darwin, the naturalist and "scientist of nature," found his way to "hard thoughts." Darwin often "found a few rocks... took a stick" and walked "the Sandwalk" path around his estate in the English countryside to contemplate what he had observed during his voyage on the HMS Beagle. What follows is a gentle speed-through of Darwin's life as an explorer--finding fossils of giant sloths in Argentina, studying the beaks of finches in the Galápagos, and considering the bones of a flightless bird--and how he eventually arrived at the idea of "natural selection."
By inviting young readers to participate in the spirit of Darwin's discoveries, Day skillfully makes narrative nonfiction accessible and engaging. The book's back matter extends Day's part-biographical, part-philosophical approach, giving historical context and reminding readers that they, too, can "end up somewhere no one else has been." Hooper's mixed-media illustrations are dynamic, both enhancing Day's text and visually completing jokes, such as Day's refrain "(And here is Charles Darwin.)." The illustrator depicts Darwin's walking path with swooping, looping blue lines, a recurring motif that captures the bursting energy of his creative ritual. Fans of Candace Fleming, Deborah Heiligman, and Melissa Sweet's nonfiction will likely enjoy Day's insightful take on Darwin. --Cristina Iannarino, children's book buyer, Books on the Square, Providence, R.I.