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How to Have a Thought

A Walk with Charles Darwin

Author Nicholas Day

Illustrated by Hadley Hooper

Hardcover

$19.99 US

Candlewick | Neal Porter Books

7.85"W x 10.04"H x 0.38"D | 11 oz | 42 per carton

On sale Jan 13, 2026 | 32 Pages | 9780823458509

Age 4-8 years

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Take a walk with Charles Darwin in this electrifying new picture book from Sibert Medalist Nicholas Day.

How do you work through a complicated idea, solve a tricky problem, or make a big discovery? Charles Darwin had a lot of ways to do it. He paced in circles and hit rocks with a stick. He studied the bones of his dinner. He even rode around the world on a boat called The Beagle.

These methods may sound unorthodox, but they led him to some pretty great thoughts—and discoveries about the origins of life as we know it.

Sibert Medalist Nicholas Day’s conversational text has all the charm of a true story told by your smartest, most interesting friend. With Hadley Hooper’s engrossingly textured illustrations, How to Have a Thought is both an introduction to Darwin and an invitation to live with brilliant curiosity.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Nicholas Day has been a wine salesman, a wedding cake baker, a fairground maintenance man, and a stay-at-home father. He is the author of the Sibert Medal-winning title The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity, illustrated by Brett Helquist, and Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”, illustrated by Chris Raschka. His writing has also appeared in Slate, Salon, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Atlantic, among other publications. He lives with his family in Buffalo, NY.

Hadley Hooper is a painter and illustrator whose artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums in major cities such as San Francisco, Toronto, New York, Denver, and Santa Fe. As a picture book illustrator, she has worked with bestselling authors such as Patricia Maclachlan, Liz Garton Scanlon, and Jan Greenberg. She lives in Denver with her partner and their dog.

Nicholas Day View titles by Nicholas Day

Hadley Hooper View titles by Hadley Hooper

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The text instead invites readers to see themselves as fellow thinkers capable of their own discoveries. Hooper’s mixed-media illustrations are nothing short of spectacular. . . . A masterful blend of biography, science, and philosophy that makes profound ideas feel wonderfully attainable.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Excellent mixed-media illustrations depict the different materials and details, keeping readers engaged.
—School Library Journal

Slyly chatty and insightful, it’s a fittingly meandering biography that introduces the work it can take to sort through difficult concepts—and invites readers to join in.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Hooper adds witty visual commentary. . . .
—Booklist

Day takes his considerable nonfiction talents into the picture book format here. . . to create a witty, engaging, and at times silly exploration of big ideas and deep thoughts. . . .Hooper’s art is an absolute wonder, seemingly blending mediums to convey the depth and breadth of what the mind can conjure.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

An eccentric picture book befitting its subject. . . .
—Foreword Reviews

About

Creators

Nicholas Day View titles by Nicholas Day

Hadley Hooper View titles by Hadley Hooper

Available for sale exclusive:

• Afghanistan

• Aland Islands

• Albania

• Algeria

• Andorra

• Angola

• Anguilla

• Antarctica

• Antigua/Barbuda

• Argentina

• Armenia

• Aruba

• Australia

• Austria

• Azerbaijan

• Bahamas

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Barbados

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Belize

• Benin

• Bermuda

• Bhutan

• Bolivia

• Bonaire, Saba

• Bosnia Herzeg.

• Botswana

• Bouvet Island

• Brazil

• Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter

• Brit.Virgin Is.

• Brunei

• Bulgaria

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Cameroon

• Canada

• Cape Verde

• Cayman Islands

• Centr.Afr.Rep.

• Chad

• Chile

• China

• Christmas Islnd

• Cocos Islands

• Colombia

• Comoro Is.

• Congo

• Cook Islands

• Costa Rica

• Croatia

• Cuba

• Curacao

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Dem. Rep. Congo

• Denmark

• Djibouti

• Dominica

• Dominican Rep.

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• El Salvador

• Equatorial Gui.

• Eritrea

• Estonia

• Ethiopia

• Falkland Islnds

• Faroe Islands

• Fiji

• Finland

• France

• Fren.Polynesia

• French Guinea

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Georgia

• Germany

• Ghana

• Gibraltar

• Greece

• Greenland

• Grenada

• Guadeloupe

• Guam

• Guatemala

• Guernsey

• Guinea Republic

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Haiti

• Heard/McDon.Isl

• Honduras

• Hong Kong

• Hungary

• Iceland

• India

• Indonesia

• Iran

• Iraq

• Ireland

• Isle of Man

• Israel

• Italy

• Ivory Coast

• Jamaica

• Japan

• Jersey

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Kiribati

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Laos

• Latvia

• Lebanon

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libya

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Macau

• Macedonia

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Malaysia

• Maldives

• Mali

• Malta

• Marshall island

• Martinique

• Mauritania

• Mauritius

• Mayotte

• Mexico

• Micronesia

• Minor Outl.Ins.

• Moldavia

• Monaco

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• Montserrat

• Morocco

• Mozambique

• Myanmar

• Namibia

• Nauru

• Nepal

• Netherlands

• New Caledonia

• New Zealand

• Nicaragua

• Niger

• Nigeria

• Niue

• Norfolk Island

• North Korea

• North Mariana

• Norway

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Palau

• Palestinian Ter

• Panama

• PapuaNewGuinea

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Philippines

• Pitcairn Islnds

• Poland

• Portugal

• Puerto Rico

• Qatar

• Reunion Island

• Romania

• Russian Fed.

• Rwanda

• S. Sandwich Ins

• Saint Martin

• Samoa,American

• San Marino

• SaoTome Princip

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Serbia

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Singapore

• Sint Maarten

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Korea

• South Sudan

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• St Barthelemy

• St. Helena

• St. Lucia

• St. Vincent

• St.Chr.,Nevis

• St.Pier,Miquel.

• Sth Terr. Franc

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Svalbard

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Syria

• Tadschikistan

• Taiwan

• Tanzania

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tokelau Islands

• Tonga

• Trinidad,Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Turkmenistan

• Turks&Caicos Is

• Tuvalu

• US Virgin Is.

• USA

• Uganda

• Ukraine

• Unit.Arab Emir.

• United Kingdom

• Uruguay

• Uzbekistan

• Vanuatu

• Vatican City

• Venezuela

• Vietnam

• Wallis,Futuna

• West Saharan

• Western Samoa

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

How to Have a Thought

A Walk with Charles Darwin

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How to Have a Thought

A Walk with Charles Darwin

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