Wild Ideas Let Nature Inspire Your Thinking

From the creators of You Are Stardust comes a new informational picture book that brings the big ideas of their first book down to earth. Wild Ideas looks deep into the forests, skies and oceans to explore how animals solve problems. Whether it’s weaving a safe place to rest and reflect, blowing a fine net of bubbles to trap fish, or leaping boldly into a new situation, the animals featured (including the orangutan, humpback whale and gibbon) can teach us a lot about creative problem solving tools and strategies.Like You Are Stardust, this book uses lyrical text grounded in current science alongside wonderfully detailed art to present problems as doorways to creative thinking. Wild Ideas encourages an inquiry-based approach to learning, inviting readers to indulge their sense of wonder and curiosity by observing the natural world, engaging with big ideas and asking questions. An author’s note at the end delves deeper into the research behind the text.

Dr. Elin Kelsey is a science educator, speaker and consultant who has worked with a variety of museums, zoos and aquariums, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Calgary Zoo, to name just a few. She is an adjunct professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and at Royal Roads University, as well as the author of ten books. She lives in Pacific Grove, California.

Soyeon Kim is an artist and illustrator who specializes in work that merges real-life materials, sketching and painting to produce three-dimensional pieces. Born in Korea but now living in Toronto, Ontario, she is a graduate of the York University visual arts program.