What Inspires - by Alison Hughes (Hardcover)

About the Book

In this buoyant picture book, three friends go to the park and their creativity spreads to everyone around them, into dance, chalk drawings, dramatic play and, when the day is over, inspirational dreams.

Book Synopsis

Three friends go to the park, where it seems like nothing is happening--but something is.

The wind is stirring the trees and sending maple keys spiralling down through the air, inspiring the children to whirl and spin...which makes a baby laugh and clap, and a man tap a rhythm with his cane. Soon, the kids and those around them are part of a domino effect of creativity from painting and building castle forts to having daring adventures and sailing the imaginary seas, and finally staging a colorful parade and watching stories unfurl in the clouds.

The kids follow this path of creativity, until finally it's nighttime and they think nothing more could possibly happen. But something does: their minds continue to create fantastical possibilities in their dreams.

Review Quotes

"Author Hughes has presented here a lovely, upbeat ode to children and their capacity for play, encouraging readers to go outside and find happiness in stretching their bodies and their imaginations...Young readers will want to have the chance to pore over the details in the pictures and contribute their own suggestions for how their own adventures might unfold. Recommended."

-- "CM: Canadian Review of Materials"

"Each turn of the page adds to the joy that the children are finding in being outside and using their creative spirits...Mixed-media artwork is filled with movement and joy. Nature acts as a backdrop while the park inhabitants use every element to create a world that is exciting, true to their imaginations, and really quite magical."

-- "Sal's Fiction Addiction"

"Focuses on the positives that can come from being open to inspiration for creativity that can come from a falling seed, a tree, or a playground set. There is no formula for inspiration. It only requires a receptivity to the possibility in the everyday...Alison Hughes allows her characters to play how they wish and to imagine what they are and can do."

-- "CanLit for Little Canadians"

"Uplifting. Quirky. Colourful...What Inspires is a charming flight of fancy, likely to inspire action in its young readers."

-- "The British Columbia Review"

"[A] joyous tribute to imagination-fueled play. Hughes's spare lyricism proves a ready partner for Rooney's mixed-media artwork. The result is a friendly communal examination of making's magic."

-- "Publishers Weekly"

"This is an uplifting, beautifully written story about possibilities and letting creative ideas play out freely. It demonstrates that inspiration is everywhere, even in small things and moments; we need only look for it to unlock our own creative potential. An inspired story about letting the creative spirit freely move you."

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Hughes' lively, poetic lines are nicely enhanced by Rooney's luminous mixed-media illustrations, which lend a whimsical, fanciful sense of enchantment to the scenes with colorful swirls of imagery and details dancing across the pages. With its inviting, playful presentation, this is a charming ode to imagination and wonder and a celebration of the way nature can connect and delight."

-- "Booklist"

About the Author

Alison Hughes is an award-winning author of many books for children and young adults, including The Silence Slips In, winner of the R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature, and Hit the Ground Running, a nominee for the Governor General's Literary Award. Alison is a university writing advisor, volunteers with children and literacy groups and gives frequent workshops and presentations at schools, libraries, festivals and conferences across Canada. She lives in Edmonton with her family.

Ellen Rooney is an award-winning designer, artist and children's book illustrator. Her textural mixed media artwork combines many traditional art techniques, like pencil drawing, painting, printmaking and collage, often combined with digital techniques. She was the winner of the 2021 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize for Grandmother School. Originally from Massachusetts, she now lives in the southern Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.