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How to Have a Thought: A Walk with Charles Darwin
Not yet published
Expected 13 Jan 26Take 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.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
- GenresPicture Books
34 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 13, 2026
26 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Day
5 books47 followersNicholas Day is the author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes, illustrated by Brett Helquist, winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction; A World Without Summer, illustrated by Yas Imamura; and Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”, illustrated by Chris Raschka. For adults, he’s the author of Baby Meets World, a work about the science and history of infancy, which Mary Roach called “a perfect book.” He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 15, 2025
EARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
This is an outstanding picture book biography that includes a focus on problem solving and “sitting with your thoughts”. It’s an excellent read aloud choice due to the discussion that can be had.
This is an outstanding picture book biography that includes a focus on problem solving and “sitting with your thoughts”. It’s an excellent read aloud choice due to the discussion that can be had.
August 21, 2025
ARC from Edelweiss.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews