Need a book to offer a little inspiration to your young readers. Check out Hold That Thought! by Bree Galbraith and Lynn Scurfield to inspire ideas and teamwork.

Finn has an idea, a beautiful glowing idea. They are so excited about the idea that they share it with their classmates. Finn’s classmates know that ideas need collaboration and time to grow and they help them make their idea bigger and better. Finn learns that ideas are also easily squashed so they need to be let out into the world and not hidden away.

Hold That Thought! is a gorgeous story to help children see that ideas are great, sometimes they need a little help in their journey, but they should always be shared with others. I loved that Bree chose the main character to be identified by they/them pronouns. There is a huge lack of picture books with intentional non-binary representation. There are many picture books where you can infer they/them pronouns for characters, but Bree is deliberate in her use of Finn’s pronouns ensuring that all children feel welcomed by this story. I also love the collaboration in the story. Finn’s friends and classmates help them to discover just how great their idea can be. It grows and grows and even gets a little help from an unlikely source. 

The idea is never defined, it just exists as a beautiful spark throughout the story. By making the idea abstract, this book is one that can be shared at anytime, in any situation and readers can come up with their own ideas about Finn’s idea. Sharing this as a read a loud could spark some incredible discussion about ideas and brainstorming.

Lynn Scurfield’s illustrations make this story sing. I LOVED the idea drawn throughout the story as a beautiful light, spiralling and soaring. The illustrations are joyful, inviting and inspiring. Readers will ask for this book again and again just to live in Lynn’s illustrations for as long as they can.