Fox #2 - What Do You Do with an Idea?

[Lisa]

What Do You Do with an Idea? is a picture book about a high ability, creative thinker with a brilliant and unique idea. As the child’s understanding and development of his idea grows, so does his confidence. The boy doesn’t know where the idea came from and hides it at first. He’s afraid to tell others about it for fear that they may not understand or appreciate it. As he shares his idea, depicted in the story as a golden crowned egg with legs, he is ridiculed and laughed at just as he’d expected. He perseveres. As he stays determined, the idea continues to grow. The boy makes the decision to ignore the naysayers and protect and care for his idea. As the story develops the boy becomes attached to his idea, and he can’t imagine life without it. The idea helps the boy to feel a zest for life, and he gains a perspective for seeing life differently. The boy stays dedicated to his idea and eventually his idea changes the world for the better and becomes a part of everything around him and an integral part of his own existence. This book can benefit all readers from very young to adult. I will be using it with 2nd-6th graders.

This book is unique in that the lovely illustrations follow the storyline and enhance the feeling and message for the reader. In the beginning when the idea starts small and the boy is hiding it and lacking confidence, the drawings are in pencil and although the sketches are amazing, there is no color or warmth to them. As the boy grows and nurtures his idea and gains confidence, the sketches follow suit becoming more and more rich and colorful with every page while simultaneously depicting the importance of the idea to the boy’s life. The theme in this book that stands out is perseverance and believing in self. I chose this book as a mirror or representation for the gifted learners I will be facilitating. At first the character sees his strengths and interests as something to hide. Many gifted learners have similar feelings and wish to downplay their intelligence, creativity, interest in academics, etc. This story sends the message that believing in yourself, working diligently, and staying true to what interests you is important in life. It also expresses that higher-level thinkers and creative learners can ultimately change the world with their creations, inventions, ideas, and offerings. Their contributions in this world make a difference not only for themselves but for others as well.

Gifted learners may feel this book is a mirror for them in that it is likely that they may have wanted to disguise their unique thoughts or ideas so as to avoid standing out amongst their peers. This feeling of wanting to distract from or hide their strengths is represented through the character in What Do You Do with an Idea? This story is a mirror for anyone who has ever had an idea or impending task or project that seemed too big, too messy, too odd, too difficult, etc. This story really illustrates the importance of supporting our youth in their creative endeavors and not stifling their development of an idea or being too quick to introduce our own perceptions and biases in our teaching. With this said, I think this book provides a window into the thinking of a high ability learner and serves as a window for educators and parents alike.

This book can be used with students to introduce the idea of having “Big Ideas.” It would be nice to provide students with daily journal practices where they can spend time honing in on their interests and dreaming. Having “big ideas” is important for youth and especially important for me to remember as a gifted facilitator. I want to help encourage kids to “think big” and “keep dreaming” and to continually have faith in themselves and work toward their goals. This book may be a nice prelude to having a science fair or better yet, a “Big Idea Fair” where unique ideas are shared and displayed for others to praise. It could be a catalyst for lessons on researching topics related to their ideas as well. The sky is the limit with using this book and its theme in the classroom which seems likely to be the author’s “Big Idea” in writing it and sharing it with the world.

Yamada, K. (2015). What Do You Do with an Idea? Seattle, Washington: Compendium Inc.