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

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This paired perfectly with a lesson on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, and the 8 different modalities (art, music, word, people, self, math, body, and nature). For any child who has ever worried about being "smart", Australian author Bell and artist Colpoys offer an expansive, reassuring look at the many ways there are to be that way . I remember feeling so frustrated as a child because I wanted there to be more than one meaning of ‘smart’.

The first is a pre-reading resource, and the following three each correspond to one of the books in the series. Allison Colpoys outdid herself here, with illustrations that utilize bright, jewel-like colors that leap off the page, and have a fun, stylized sensibility that just works on the page. I think everyone will find something here to make them feel better about themselves (and appreciate those around them).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. Rest assured, not everyone has to be smart in the same way – and sharing all the different ways we are smart makes the world better every day. Between games, drawing exercises, group activities and questions, the resource helps children to identifying feelings, understand anxiety, express love and celebrate our differences. Vibrant colours and charming whimsical illustrations fill the pages with character, and the rhythmic, rhyming text makes it a delight to read out loud. All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell explores multiple intelligences in a way that small children can understand and appreciate.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. But saying "we're all smart in our own ways" is often code for, this kid isn't great at drawing/reading/maths whatever. I found that while some of the things listed as ways to be smart could be seen as silly, it's a smart choice to shows kids there's no one right way to be smart. Joyful and vibrant … Allison Colpoys’ illustrations shimmer with movement and vivacity, with her loose-line illustrations and selective colour palette exuding a nostalgic retro charm. Everything that a child does can be a form of smartness when it is approached in the right way and this is a really important lesson to remind children of all age groups.

She is also the author of the Alice books in Penguin’s best-selling Our Australian Girl series, the Lemonade Jones series of Junior Fiction, and the Corner Park Clubhouse series (Middle Grade). This is a wonderful book to introduce this multiple intelligence notion to students, and serves as a reminder of the diversity we have with our peers, as well as inside ourselves. What if we all grew up with this message, imagine the doors it would open and the opportunities it would provide. 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.