What Inspires

Author Hughes has presented here a lovely, upbeat ode to children and their capacity for play. Her theme is not screentime, schoolyard taunts, family arguments or dying pets. Instead, she is encouraging readers to go outside and find happiness in stretching their bodies and their imaginations.

An exuberant trio of children are the first to enter the park.

It seemed like nothing was happening. Nothing at all.

But something was. The wind was rustling the leaves of

the trees, sending seeds spiralling into the air.

The friends spun around and around in a joyful seed

dance, wild and free.

They are joined by a supporting cast of other children and friendly adults. Groups form and reform, variously running, singing, clapping and exploring. The landscape of their surroundings seems to be transformed, at least in the children’s active minds.

A thrilling adventure unfolded over land and sea,

with magical creatures, a daring battle, a dramatic chase

and a noisy colorful parade.

The raucous nature of these activities is contrasted with what comes next, some quiet moments sitting on the grass staring up at the shapes of clouds passing by.

The sky is darkening and the children run home in twilight, signalling the end of the day but not of their imaginative journeys which are carried over into sleep.

In the twirling dance of their dreams, they wove

colors, shapes and adventures into something

beautiful and strange and new.

The text is brief and descriptive, with no word wasted. Rooney’s mixed media illustrations (“including pencils, textured and found papers and digital drawing tools”) complement the positive tone of the text with their light colours and sense of movement. We view the action from a variety of perspectives, and the human figures depicted are nicely inclusive. There are boys and girls, adults old and young, a baby, a child in a wheelchair, all with a range of skin colours.

What Inspires would probably be most successfully used in reading with a single child or very small group. 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.