This is a Dr. Seuss book that I wished I had used as a working teacher.
I stashed it away in my library one summer and forgot I had it.
All art starts with an idea. A “think” = an idea. Seuss so creatively explains how an idea starts the activity of creating. The words, images and reading cadence of eighteen different rhyming stories are funny and extremely imaginative. The book inspires and encourages children to want to “think up thinks”, which expands their creative imagination. See Generating Personal Ideas for other ways to help children discover their own ideas.
Read the book as a way to introduce The Art Chart. On a wall space, display the title “The Art Chart.” Under that, place the word IDEA, big and in all caps. Place the words “All art starts with an idea” under IDEA. Read half the book before lunch and the second half after lunch. Put the book in the children’s reading/library area.
Remember, if you’re a classroom Montessorian, you also teach creative writing. “Thinks” are needed by young authors, and reading the book to your students is an appropriate way to introduce generating personal ideas into the activity of writing. When a child writes from their own idea they are truly writing creatively.
Have fun!