• Age: 6 to 8
• Grade: 1 to 3
• Reading age: 6 to 8

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.

Alison Hughes is an award-winning author of many books for children and young adults, including The Silence Slips In, winner of the R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature, and Hit the Ground Running, nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award. Alison is a university writing adviser who also volunteers with children and literacy groups and gives frequent workshops and presentations at schools, libraries, festivals and conferences across Canada. She lives in Edmonton with her family.

Alison Hughes' profile page

Ellen Rooney is an award-winning designer, artist and children’s book illustrator. Her textural mixed media artwork combines many traditional art techniques, like pencil drawing, painting, printmaking and collage, often combined with digital techniques. She is the winner of the 2021 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize for Grandmother School. Originally from Massachusetts, she now lives in the southern Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

Ellen Rooney's profile page

“[A] joyous tribute to imagination-fueled play. Hughes’s spare lyricism proves a ready partner for Rooney’s mixed-media artwork. The result is a friendly communal examination of making’s magic.”

Publishers Weekly

“Hughes’ lively, poetic lines are nicely enhanced by Rooney’s luminous mixed-media illustrations, which lend a whimsical, fanciful sense of enchantment to the scenes with colorful swirls of imagery and details dancing across the pages. With its inviting, playful presentation, this is a charming ode to imagination and wonder and a celebration of the way nature can connect and delight.”

Booklist

“Focuses on the positives that can come from being open to inspiration for creativity that can come from a falling seed, a tree, or a playground set. There is no formula for inspiration. It only requires a receptivity to the possibility in the everyday...Alison Hughes allows her characters to play how they wish and to imagine what they are and can do.”

CanLit for Little Canadians

“This is an uplifting, beautifully written story about possibilities and letting creative ideas play out freely. It demonstrates that inspiration is everywhere, even in small things and moments; we need only look for it to unlock our own creative potential. An inspired story about letting the creative spirit freely move you.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Uplifting. Quirky. Colourful…What Inspires is a charming flight of fancy, likely to inspire action in its young readers.”

The British Columbia Review