Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-We all have ideas, grown from mysterious origins and frothing with energy. But where do they come from, how do we get them, and what happens when we have them? Tullet's latest offering explores the emotions behind ideas, that ephemeral effervescence that bursts forth at different times in different ways. What Tullet does best is present this emotional journey of an idea in a fun, easily understandable manner with engaging illustrations that seem to pop off of the page. Children (and adults!) will see the origins, progression, and perhaps the end result of an idea in this must-have addition to elementary-level collections. VERDICT Tullet brings the delight and exuberance to the nebulous science of ideas in a way that engages, entertains, and inspires.-Amanda C. Buschmann, Carroll Elementary School, Houston © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This look at how an idea is born ("It's a little like finding a seed") is illustrated with the primary palette and black lines of Tullet's previous books; shapes multiply, change color, and otherwise evolve to suggest a blooming thought. I Have an Idea! doesn't offer the interactive experience of Tullet's Press Here, but it pushes the same (figurative) buttons. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A gifted finder of ideas explains how to track the tricky, elusive things down.Readers should be warned to hold on to their hats, because although it's presented as one long, breathless mix of hand-lettered expostulations and dashed-off jabs, squiggles, and swipes of blue, red, and yellow paint, Tullet's monologue veers about like an unknotted balloon. Dispensing with a title page, he opens abruptly by marveling at the "OH!" moment when an idea hits, then rhetorically asking what an idea might be. He goes on to describe hunting for one as an arduous, even "boring" task. Observing that happening upon an idea is "a little like finding a seed" that grows, he suddenly switches his conceit to exclaim that ideas will come in a "messy and bubbly" swarmbut must be sifted to find the "good" ones, which "always" contain "a seed of madness." Rather than pausing to unpack that vague if fine-sounding phrase, he rushes on to claim (with one minor typo) confusingly that "those seeds" (which ones?) are hidden everywhere but can be found, cultivated, absorbed in the mind, and ultimately combinedto make an idea. (Weren't we there already?) Finally, following the affirmation that the effort is worthwhile, whether "just for the fun of it" or "to change the world," he closes with the inspirational assurance that those who seek will find. Well, that part at least is clear enough.Haphazard stabs at describing at least parts of the creative processmore illuminating perhaps for the artist's students than the rest of his audience. (Picture book. 8-10, adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
