How to Have a Thought: A Walk with Charles Darwin [Hardcover]

Take a walk with Charles Darwin in this electrifying new picture book from Sibert Medalist Nicholas Day.

How do you work through a complicated idea, solve a tricky problem, or make a big discovery? Charles Darwin had a lot of ways to do it. He paced in circles and hit rocks with a stick. He studied the bones of his dinner. He even rode around the world on a boat called The Beagle.

These methods may sound unorthodox, but they led him to some pretty great thoughts—and discoveries about the origins of life as we know it.

Sibert Medalist Nicholas Day's conversational text has all the charm of a true story told by your smartest, most interesting friend. With Hadley Hooper's engrossingly textured illustrations, How to Have a Thought is both an introduction to Darwin and an invitation to live with brilliant curiosity.The text instead invites readers to see themselves as fellow thinkers capable of their own discoveries. Hooper’s mixed-media illustrations are nothing short of spectacular. . . . A masterful blend of biography, science, and philosophy that makes profound ideas feel wonderfully attainable.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Textually and visually, How to Have a Thought roots for contemplation, creativity, new perspectives and time in nature and reminds us that some-times, going in circles is a good thing.
—BookPage (starred review)

Slyly chatty and insightful, it’s a fittingly meandering biography that introduces the work it can take to sort through difficult concepts—and invites readers to join in.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

By inviting young readers to participate in the spirit of Darwin's discoveries, Day skillfully makes narrative nonfiction accessible and engaging. . . . Hooper's mixed-media illustrationl“!