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How to Think Like an Absolute Genius
Be curious! Be imaginative! Be determined! Develop your talents by drawing inspiration from the greatest of geniuses. In a world that changes quickly, the future belongs to those who have an open, flexible like John Lennon, they will imagine the impossible; like Walt Disney, they will work as a team; and like Copernicus, they will be able to think backwards! If you’re worried you might not be up to the job, have no fear! This fascinating book will show you the way. Meet 27 geniuses from different eras and disciplines – artists, scientists, thinkers or writers – and learn from their "creative methods". Packed with facts, games and activity ideas to boost your intelligence, creative, inventive, and critical thinking skills, this book will show you that you can become absolutely awesome at whatever you put your mind to!
80 pages, Hardcover
Published October 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 20, 2018
Read the full review on my Let's Geek blog: http://bit.ly/2P99mLC
How to Think Like an Absolute Genius is a fun little educational children's book with great observations and even greater ideas.
Total Rating: 6.7/10
Originality: 8/10
Language: 8/10
Tasks: 8/10
Digital Layout: 1/10
Print Layout: 9/10
Cliparts: 4/10
Educational: 7/10
Fun: 5/10
Relevancy: 10/10
Cover: 7/10
Genre: Children's Non-Fiction
For your little geeky brat, this is a perfect book. Be prepared to join them in annoying tasks, them asking lots of annoying questions, and them - maybe, one day - change the world. However - get this book as a paperback, not digitally, as current layout makes the book almost impossible to read.
THE BOOK:
This book is something important - it teaches you about the world's biggest inventors, artists and social activists and what actions or way of thinking helped them make an impact on the world.
Originality: 8/10
There are plenty of adult self-help books on how to think like a genius or be more productive. This one is for children - because one is never too young to look for the inner genius. Taking examples from real life geniuses, this book is also educational an includes actionable tasks to test those new skills.
Language: 8/10
Language was really simple and easy to understand. It felt almost overly enthusiastic, which I think you need when addressing children and wanting to make them do something that is not gaming. Like when you screech with a high pitched voice "Yaay dental surgery yaay" I bet your toddler would clap excitedly, just because it sounds so much fun, not knowing what you actually said. This is actually a great technique I use regularly with my dog.
Tasks: 8/10
For each chapter there are tasks children can do alone, with friends or family. There are some really good suggestions actually - for example to asking 7 questions about one topic, or pick two random items and think about how connecting them could create a new idea. My favourite one was the list of new things to try every day and share the experience.
Digital Layout: 1/10
The layout on the digital version was so broken I had serious issues reading it on the kindle app on my phone. It ruined the whole reading experience.
Print Layout: 9/10
I was curious what the print version would look like and found the "look inside" section on the Amazon page. Mind. Blown. This book actually looks pretty damn good! (I am still not quite convinced by some of those 90's Words clipart). Not comparable to the digital version.
Cliparts: 4/10
There are some unique and good cliparts in the book that I am sure appeal to children - however they were very different in style which I noticed negatively. Plus, there seemed to be points where cliparts where just thrown in to pat out the chapter.
Educational: 7/10
The author tried to squeeze in as much as he could in a small easy-to-read format. It is very educational, but every chapter has one main genius as an example and then a handful of others who are each dedicated only one sentence to - too short! Plus, it never mentions HOW the other geniuses used this strategy or practice, it only mentions that it does. I already couldn't remember, so how will children do? It is like in a book about "How To Be Rich" to just list people who are rich. At least the book should encourage kids to research those people in depth and fill out some task sheets or something.
Fun: 5/10
This is a non-fiction book, so it wasn't the traditional fun. It felt a bit like a self-help book tried to be made kiddie-friendly by adding pictures and simple writing.
Relevancy: 10/10
This is an important book - it teaches your child things they don't teach at school, but should. It encourages intelligent and out of the box thinking, questioning things, make new connections between things and develop a determined work ethic to achieve goals.
Cover: 7/10
The cover looks definitely fun.
Total Rating: 6.7/10
A fun and important book for your nerd child - however, the digital layout version just dragged down the whole rating and ruined the experience for me somewhat. Ignoring this, I totally believe that some geeky nerd kids will suck this all up like a sponge.
Read the full review on my Let's Geek blog: http://bit.ly/2P99mLC
How to Think Like an Absolute Genius is a fun little educational children's book with great observations and even greater ideas.
Total Rating: 6.7/10
Originality: 8/10
Language: 8/10
Tasks: 8/10
Digital Layout: 1/10
Print Layout: 9/10
Cliparts: 4/10
Educational: 7/10
Fun: 5/10
Relevancy: 10/10
Cover: 7/10
Genre: Children's Non-Fiction
For your little geeky brat, this is a perfect book. Be prepared to join them in annoying tasks, them asking lots of annoying questions, and them - maybe, one day - change the world. However - get this book as a paperback, not digitally, as current layout makes the book almost impossible to read.
THE BOOK:
This book is something important - it teaches you about the world's biggest inventors, artists and social activists and what actions or way of thinking helped them make an impact on the world.
Originality: 8/10
There are plenty of adult self-help books on how to think like a genius or be more productive. This one is for children - because one is never too young to look for the inner genius. Taking examples from real life geniuses, this book is also educational an includes actionable tasks to test those new skills.
Language: 8/10
Language was really simple and easy to understand. It felt almost overly enthusiastic, which I think you need when addressing children and wanting to make them do something that is not gaming. Like when you screech with a high pitched voice "Yaay dental surgery yaay" I bet your toddler would clap excitedly, just because it sounds so much fun, not knowing what you actually said. This is actually a great technique I use regularly with my dog.
Tasks: 8/10
For each chapter there are tasks children can do alone, with friends or family. There are some really good suggestions actually - for example to asking 7 questions about one topic, or pick two random items and think about how connecting them could create a new idea. My favourite one was the list of new things to try every day and share the experience.
Digital Layout: 1/10
The layout on the digital version was so broken I had serious issues reading it on the kindle app on my phone. It ruined the whole reading experience.
Print Layout: 9/10
I was curious what the print version would look like and found the "look inside" section on the Amazon page. Mind. Blown. This book actually looks pretty damn good! (I am still not quite convinced by some of those 90's Words clipart). Not comparable to the digital version.
Cliparts: 4/10
There are some unique and good cliparts in the book that I am sure appeal to children - however they were very different in style which I noticed negatively. Plus, there seemed to be points where cliparts where just thrown in to pat out the chapter.
Educational: 7/10
The author tried to squeeze in as much as he could in a small easy-to-read format. It is very educational, but every chapter has one main genius as an example and then a handful of others who are each dedicated only one sentence to - too short! Plus, it never mentions HOW the other geniuses used this strategy or practice, it only mentions that it does. I already couldn't remember, so how will children do? It is like in a book about "How To Be Rich" to just list people who are rich. At least the book should encourage kids to research those people in depth and fill out some task sheets or something.
Fun: 5/10
This is a non-fiction book, so it wasn't the traditional fun. It felt a bit like a self-help book tried to be made kiddie-friendly by adding pictures and simple writing.
Relevancy: 10/10
This is an important book - it teaches your child things they don't teach at school, but should. It encourages intelligent and out of the box thinking, questioning things, make new connections between things and develop a determined work ethic to achieve goals.
Cover: 7/10
The cover looks definitely fun.
Total Rating: 6.7/10
A fun and important book for your nerd child - however, the digital layout version just dragged down the whole rating and ruined the experience for me somewhat. Ignoring this, I totally believe that some geeky nerd kids will suck this all up like a sponge.
Read the full review on my Let's Geek blog: http://bit.ly/2P99mLC
October 16, 2018
Great book that present genius of our history and also encourage kids not only to learn about them but to develop talents and ability to become their intelligence (curiosity, imagination and determination). We need more of those book that encourage young minds toward knowledge and the happy joy of learning!!
October 23, 2018
How to Think Like an Absolutely Awesome Genius, 27 geniuses from different eras and disciplines – artists, scientists, thinkers or writers – entrust you with their "creative methods". Packed with facts, games and activity ideas to boost your intelligence, with this book to guide you, you can become absolutely awesome at whatever you put your mind to.
Well organized and beautiful illustrations make this book a must have for any upper elementary classroom. Motivate your students to find their inner genius by discovering habits that made these 27 genius' great! This would be an incredible weekly reading (one a week). That way they can learn a new skill, practice with an activity, and then use it throughout the week.
For example: Read about Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) and how you can see things differently. Then, as a class complete the activity Ways Of Looking At An Image. Throughout the week provide different opportunities to "see things differently" in the various lessons you complete. What a fun way to use a non-fiction book! Have you done anything similar in your classroom? Please let me know in the comments below.
I have a rating system I use for those books I have read and reviewed on my blog, you may check it out here. I have given this book four coffee cups, Cool Beans!
I read this book as a part of my #BookaDay Reading Challenge, inspired by Donalyn Miller. My goal is to read at least one children's literature book every weekday and share my thoughts.
Well organized and beautiful illustrations make this book a must have for any upper elementary classroom. Motivate your students to find their inner genius by discovering habits that made these 27 genius' great! This would be an incredible weekly reading (one a week). That way they can learn a new skill, practice with an activity, and then use it throughout the week.
For example: Read about Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) and how you can see things differently. Then, as a class complete the activity Ways Of Looking At An Image. Throughout the week provide different opportunities to "see things differently" in the various lessons you complete. What a fun way to use a non-fiction book! Have you done anything similar in your classroom? Please let me know in the comments below.
I have a rating system I use for those books I have read and reviewed on my blog, you may check it out here. I have given this book four coffee cups, Cool Beans!
I read this book as a part of my #BookaDay Reading Challenge, inspired by Donalyn Miller. My goal is to read at least one children's literature book every weekday and share my thoughts.
November 8, 2018
I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.
As one might imagine from the cover this book details how many historical geniuses thought.
This book is creatively illustrated and filled with a sense of fun image wise.
On the other hand, my 6 year old daughter and I got a bit tired of the dry, fact based nature of the text and would have liked something with more narrative.
I have to disagree with the reviewer who disliked the kindle books layout. I didn't find anything wrong with it, perhaps they had a different device or resolution. On the other hand, I could see myself thinking about format differently. Other digital books often seem to put their content out of order which I hate so if this did something else grievous I might have missed it.
As one might imagine from the cover this book details how many historical geniuses thought.
This book is creatively illustrated and filled with a sense of fun image wise.
On the other hand, my 6 year old daughter and I got a bit tired of the dry, fact based nature of the text and would have liked something with more narrative.
I have to disagree with the reviewer who disliked the kindle books layout. I didn't find anything wrong with it, perhaps they had a different device or resolution. On the other hand, I could see myself thinking about format differently. Other digital books often seem to put their content out of order which I hate so if this did something else grievous I might have missed it.
November 5, 2018
I agree with much of what's in this book, but feel I have to include ruthless self promotion and shoving everyone out of your way if they get in your way! But I assume that isn't appropriate for a children's book! Lol! So genius may not mean as much as we've been taught it means. Over all however, the book is kind of neat in that it encourages kids to think outside the box. I think the activities in it and it may be useful within the classroom! Seriously, Phillippe Brasseur has written a most beguiling book for kids to explore themselves and the world around them! Kudos!
June 6, 2019
Terrible. Written in 2018 and there are ONE woman genius and ONE African American genius. No one from Asia Australia South America Africa????
A white supremacist book? A sexist author? Terrible
A white supremacist book? A sexist author? Terrible
October 16, 2018
How to Think Like an Absolute Genius by author Philippe Brasseur is a fun children’s book packed with lots of fun!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of How to think like a genius in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of How to think like a genius in exchange for an honest review.
November 2, 2018
My Thoughts:
This book is absolute genius, like its title. There is information everywhere, and a how to use this book page makes it easy to, well, use the book and get the best out of it! Read on to find out what I loved about the book.
And the 27 geniuses mentioned – one of them is our brain.
What I loved:
The concept and the presentation: I love that it is geared towards younger audiences and helping them explore the genius mind. But also love that it works for everybody and I can attest to that as an adult reader. As it states in the book, ‘In this book, ideas bounce around in all directions – just like they do inside our heads!‘. And ideas and information do literally bounce off the page, using images and text all over the page, that make the reading of it more fun.
Activities: All the suggested activities and tips provided are so totally doable by children, by themselves or with others (be it family, friends, or classmates), making each and every activity a wonderful learning experience. For example: Train your curiosity by asking yourself 10 different questions on the same topic. The book includes a Take it Further section at the end which is also full of ideas and activities. A list of included Further Resources to help research deeper on information in the book, and a list of activities to make your days, your weeks extraordinary.
The possibilities: The book inspires inspiration, curiosity, take-action steps, and so much more. It enables the reader with information and leads them on a wonderful journey of discovery. The Take it Further section also gives ideas on how to convert your ‘Yes, But’ to a ‘Yes, I Can’ – I loved this!
The creative methods themselves: They are classified under curiosity (take notes like da Vinci), imagination(think outside the box like Igor Stravinsky) and determination (work methodically like Agatha Christie). Each creative method includes:
practical and practicable tips for everyday that will soon become habits leading you onto the path to being a genius.
quotes from geniuses that are relevant to the method and will inspire you into action, like Edison’s words ‘I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 solutions that didn’t work.’
activities to explore your creativity, over and over again like this one from the book: In the ‘Gymnastics for Writers’ activity, suggestions include 7 challenges, one of them is write 7 sentences with just 7 words to describe the beginning of your day.
a snapshot of the featured genius that helps the reader learn more – information about the person and fun facts too. For example:' Salvador Dali often gave out blank sheets of paper that he had signed, saying: “Here, do a Dali and get rich!“ ' (That is rich indeed!! Oh, to have met Dali when he was handing out those blank sheets!)
other geniuses who also made an impact in their fields, and on the world, by exploring creatively and differently. We learn about other famous as well as not so famous people whose discoveries help us everyday, like Margaret E. Knight who held 87 patents and invented the flat-bottomed paper bag!
a note on how the brain works and what happens when we do different activities, like those mentioned in the book. One example from the book: 'What we see is the brain’s primary source of information. So much so that our sight often overrides our other senses.' So the book suggests to try out some daily activities by closing our eyes.
What could have made it way way better: A couple more woman geniuses highlighted! The book highlights one woman – Agatha Christie. Granted that there are many women included in the book in the ‘Others Who……’ section for each creative method and also granted that the book itself also makes a mention of this (redeeming point for this grievance with the book) -‘So many people mentioned in this book are deceased. You will also find that the majority are male.’ But I would have loved it so much more with at least a couple more women of the women mentioned in the ‘Others..’ highlighted among the 26 (and it would not have hurt to have more than 26 geniuses too!).
In Summary:
A book that would be wonderful in classrooms to use as a learning tool – explore one creative method a week! And at home to read and discuss as a family – I know I would love going through this book even with my older kids – a teen and a tween. There is so much potential in such books.
So, there you go – another wonderful book to gift. Gift it to yourself or that potential-genius (does that not include everyone?) kid you know who loves reading (or not – this book will encourage reluctant readers to pick it up – it is appealingly genius that way!)
Rating: A-
Reading Level: 8 years and older
Reread Level: 5/5
Disclaimer: Thank You #NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for the advance DRC of this book. The opinions are my own.
This book is absolute genius, like its title. There is information everywhere, and a how to use this book page makes it easy to, well, use the book and get the best out of it! Read on to find out what I loved about the book.
And the 27 geniuses mentioned – one of them is our brain.
What I loved:
The concept and the presentation: I love that it is geared towards younger audiences and helping them explore the genius mind. But also love that it works for everybody and I can attest to that as an adult reader. As it states in the book, ‘In this book, ideas bounce around in all directions – just like they do inside our heads!‘. And ideas and information do literally bounce off the page, using images and text all over the page, that make the reading of it more fun.
Activities: All the suggested activities and tips provided are so totally doable by children, by themselves or with others (be it family, friends, or classmates), making each and every activity a wonderful learning experience. For example: Train your curiosity by asking yourself 10 different questions on the same topic. The book includes a Take it Further section at the end which is also full of ideas and activities. A list of included Further Resources to help research deeper on information in the book, and a list of activities to make your days, your weeks extraordinary.
The possibilities: The book inspires inspiration, curiosity, take-action steps, and so much more. It enables the reader with information and leads them on a wonderful journey of discovery. The Take it Further section also gives ideas on how to convert your ‘Yes, But’ to a ‘Yes, I Can’ – I loved this!
The creative methods themselves: They are classified under curiosity (take notes like da Vinci), imagination(think outside the box like Igor Stravinsky) and determination (work methodically like Agatha Christie). Each creative method includes:
practical and practicable tips for everyday that will soon become habits leading you onto the path to being a genius.
quotes from geniuses that are relevant to the method and will inspire you into action, like Edison’s words ‘I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 solutions that didn’t work.’
activities to explore your creativity, over and over again like this one from the book: In the ‘Gymnastics for Writers’ activity, suggestions include 7 challenges, one of them is write 7 sentences with just 7 words to describe the beginning of your day.
a snapshot of the featured genius that helps the reader learn more – information about the person and fun facts too. For example:' Salvador Dali often gave out blank sheets of paper that he had signed, saying: “Here, do a Dali and get rich!“ ' (That is rich indeed!! Oh, to have met Dali when he was handing out those blank sheets!)
other geniuses who also made an impact in their fields, and on the world, by exploring creatively and differently. We learn about other famous as well as not so famous people whose discoveries help us everyday, like Margaret E. Knight who held 87 patents and invented the flat-bottomed paper bag!
a note on how the brain works and what happens when we do different activities, like those mentioned in the book. One example from the book: 'What we see is the brain’s primary source of information. So much so that our sight often overrides our other senses.' So the book suggests to try out some daily activities by closing our eyes.
What could have made it way way better: A couple more woman geniuses highlighted! The book highlights one woman – Agatha Christie. Granted that there are many women included in the book in the ‘Others Who……’ section for each creative method and also granted that the book itself also makes a mention of this (redeeming point for this grievance with the book) -‘So many people mentioned in this book are deceased. You will also find that the majority are male.’ But I would have loved it so much more with at least a couple more women of the women mentioned in the ‘Others..’ highlighted among the 26 (and it would not have hurt to have more than 26 geniuses too!).
In Summary:
A book that would be wonderful in classrooms to use as a learning tool – explore one creative method a week! And at home to read and discuss as a family – I know I would love going through this book even with my older kids – a teen and a tween. There is so much potential in such books.
So, there you go – another wonderful book to gift. Gift it to yourself or that potential-genius (does that not include everyone?) kid you know who loves reading (or not – this book will encourage reluctant readers to pick it up – it is appealingly genius that way!)
Rating: A-
Reading Level: 8 years and older
Reread Level: 5/5
Disclaimer: Thank You #NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for the advance DRC of this book. The opinions are my own.
November 25, 2018
How to think as an Absolute Genius by Philippe Brasseur is a children's book interested to stimulate in different fields, geniality and potentialities of your children thanks to a lot of advice, tips, but mainly thanks to inspiring past genius.
Advice are many: they pass through notes taken by Da Vinci, Charles Darwin's questions about environment and animals; adopting a different yourself as experienced by Salvador Dalì, imagining the impossible as did John Lennon; trying to be inspired by the past: an eminent painter in this sense was Pablo Picasso; or just trusting your subconscious; asks at Sigmund Freud; creating continuously as did Marcel Proust; cultivating dreams as Martin Luther King did with his motto: "I have a Dream" but try also to work in a team like Walt Disney if you have a creative spirit in grade of sharing.
Wonderful illustrations, beautiful colored book, I know that this one will be an appreciated gift for your children because it will speak directly to them and their potentialities.
Children love to be loved and appreciated, feeling that their parents trust them and their endless possibilities.
Highly recommended.
I thank NetGalley and Quarto for this eboo
Advice are many: they pass through notes taken by Da Vinci, Charles Darwin's questions about environment and animals; adopting a different yourself as experienced by Salvador Dalì, imagining the impossible as did John Lennon; trying to be inspired by the past: an eminent painter in this sense was Pablo Picasso; or just trusting your subconscious; asks at Sigmund Freud; creating continuously as did Marcel Proust; cultivating dreams as Martin Luther King did with his motto: "I have a Dream" but try also to work in a team like Walt Disney if you have a creative spirit in grade of sharing.
Wonderful illustrations, beautiful colored book, I know that this one will be an appreciated gift for your children because it will speak directly to them and their potentialities.
Children love to be loved and appreciated, feeling that their parents trust them and their endless possibilities.
Highly recommended.
I thank NetGalley and Quarto for this eboo
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews