All the Ways to be Smart: the beautifully illustrated international bestseller that celebrates the talents of every child

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It’s highly likely every child who reads this book will find something in it that shows they too are smart. Imaginative and creative play is the river from which all the streams of what we envisage as separate intelligences flow. It is a truism in education and education adjacent fields that there are multiple kinds of intelligence -- there's that whole thing about Gardner's theory of intelligences, and some kinds of skills and abilities that seem a bit abstract are listed: body intelligence, musical intelligence etc.

Colpoys's ink, charcoal, and pencil drawings burst with a profusion of neon orange and green, literally highlighting each scene with an incandescence that more than matches the rhyming couplets' jauntiness.This book celebrates the myriad ways one can be smart--knowing the right thing to say, being welcoming to a shy friend, using your imagination, taking chances.

This collaboration between Davina Bell and Alison Colpoys is a celebration of what makes us us , of the strengths that we all have within ourselves – whether we’re dreamers, adventurers, readers or artists … The illustrations are whimsical and fun, with a beautiful colour palette. In this cheerful exploration of all the nonstandard ways a person can be smart, the creators paint an expansive picture of intelligence that goes well beyond "being best/at spelling bees, /a tricky test.Having greatly enjoyed Captain Starfish, I was eager to pick up All the Ways to Be Smart, which has a bright, colorful cover that drew me right in. It shows children that being "smart" is so much more than doing well in tests and reminds them of other important aspects of their personalities whilst showcasing all kinds of abilities. Colpoys’ illustrations, showing a busy, multiracial, multi-gifted cast, convey joyous variety and abundant compassion. I have noticed that in year 1, a lot of children begin to get a fixed mindset when it comes to their ability and it would be very beneficial to remind them that smartness isn’t about how well they do on a maths test, it is much more about how they act, how they respond to each other and how they think.

This book (“All The Ways To Be Smart”) is about how being “smart” isn’t just about intellectual “smartness” but instead can encompass kindness, being artistic, being a good friend, etc. The summer that I was preparing for my first teaching job, I met with some elementary and independent school administrators.These books have won many awards and Bell is working on a young-adult novel to be released later this year. So in the book, cutting out bats out of cardboard, imagining being a monster, picking out one's own outfit, being sorry when you're naughty, building cubbies (I am loving other members of the Anglosphere tripping over that word, incidentally, having had to explain various dialectal differences to children many times reading books from North America), these are crucial markers of "intelligence" if intelligence can be said to exist for little kids, because play is their work. Her award-winning and Notable picture books include All the Ways To Be Smart, All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors, Under the Love Umbrella, The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade, Oh Albert! One of the most pivotal messages that children need to hear and illustrated with a brilliant spectrum of colours that leap from the page and right into the heart.

Allison Colpoys (left) is an award-winning designer and illustrator, and the Art Director at Scribe Publications. While All the Ways to Be Smart would be an amazing addition for preschool and elementary classrooms, especially in this school climate where children worry at younger and younger ages about their performances in reading, writing, and math, the way Bell wrote this book makes it perfect to read one on one with a child you love at home as well. A needed reassurance that tests can't measure everything, and that we need all kinds of kids to create a smart and inventive world. Vibrant colours and charming whimsical illustrations fill the pages with character, and the rhythmic, rhyming text makes it a delight to read out loud.Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys have done it again, following up the absolutely beautiful 'Under the Love Umbrella' with this gem! Great for discussing how we are all different and celebrating all of the unique and wonderful qualities that make children who they are. Davina lives and works in Melbourne, where she still dreams about the Western Australian beaches while drinking a lot of very good Melbourne coffee.