All The Ways To Be Smart, by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys

If you are still looking for a Christmas present for the 5-9-year-old child in your life – look no further. All The Ways To Be Smart is the go-to book for Christmas 2018.

As you might be aware I am always on the lookout for books that promote a growth mindset and healthy self-confidence. I have one child in particular who often needs reminding to ‘bounce back’ after mistakes and who seems to feel that ‘perfect’ is the only option, anything less is a failure.

All The Ways To Be Smart could be subtitled: How to build your child’s self-esteem. Its real benefit to families will come from parents reading aloud the words to their kids and then also adopting the same phrasing and loving tone when communicating with kids on a daily basis.

Generally, I’m not a fan of fluro in illustrations, but I totally love Allison Colpoys’ illustrations in this book. They are restrained enough to allow imaginations to take flight.

My 6-year-old saw this stunning picture and immediately said, “That’s me”. I love that. She saw her personality represented in a book about being smart. And I think most kids would find one illustration to really connect with as the children in the book are diverse.

Davina Bell’s lovely rhyming text really gets at my heartstrings. The book does cover many of the ways kids can be smart, making paper airplanes, reading, making up games. The book helps kids see that smart is not always knowing everything, it’s also asking questions and taking chances. But my favourite way to be smart is: “Smart is kindness when there’s crying”.

While this book is such an entertaining and joyful read for kids, I think its most lasting effect will upon the grown-ups who read it and then remember how smart and great and amazing their kids already are.