Key Selling Points

• Three friends go to the park, where nothing is happening, except the maple keys spinning down from the trees, inspiring them into a twirling dance, which makes a baby clap and a man tap his cane, and that goes on and on. We watch the domino effect of inspiration widen and close out with children's imaginative dreams.
• What Inspires evokes the free-form nature of creativity and inspiration and how ideas can come from anywhere; it shows the passing on of the spark of creativity from one person to the next and, finally, it captures the joy of open-ended play.
• The (mostly) outdoor setting and depiction of art/creativity in many forms makes the activities in this book open to everyone and a perfect springboard for classroom discussion about what forms of artistic expression kids most enjoy and how anything can be art, from painting to building a stick fort.
• Alison Hughes (who has written 20 books for young adults and children) and Ellen Rooney (whose work includes the award-winning Grandmother School) are a powerhouse combination, as Alison's lyrical writing is perfectly complemented by Ellen's vibrant, dynamic illustrations.

Three friends go to the park, where it seems like nothing is happening—but something is.

The wind is stirring the trees and sending maple keys spiralling down through the air, inspiring the children to whirl and spin...which makes a baby laugh and clap, and a man tap a rhythm with his cane. Soon, the kids and those around them are part of a domino effect of creativity from painting and building castle forts to having daring adventures and sailing the imaginary seas, and finally staging a colorful parade and watching stories unfurl in the clouds.

The kids follow this path of creativity, until finally it's nighttime and they think nothing more could possibly happen. But something does: their minds continue to create fantastical possibilities in their dreams.