How to Have a Thought: A Walk with Charles Darwin

Gr 2-5–An uneven offering from Day (A World Without Summer), wherein readers are invited to take a walk with Charles Darwin. Using the potentially confusing phrase “trace a loop” to mean walking around a chosen route, Day invites readers to use walking as a way to have space to think. The simple prose at the start uses repetition to introduce the needed materials for the walk, along with the items Darwin used. However, the text then shifts to a more complicated style, discussing Darwin’s life, his travels, and then how he came up with the theory of evolution while walking. The change in style makes the intended audience unclear: the simple start may rebuff older readers; biographical section raises the reading level . Lengthy back matter further muddies the waters, written at an even higher level, as the author muses about Darwin’s life and walks before launching indulgently into an anecdote about returning from a walk and writing this book himself. Excellent mixed-media illustrations depict the different materials and details, keeping readers engaged through a the contrast of realistic photos and rougher sketches. Hooper is the real star here and provides the most cohesive element.