An often compelling manual that may fan the embers of readers’ creativity.
Educational consultant Foster offers a guide for young people that promotes creativity as a motivational tool.
The author is an education specialist with several published works on nurturing children’s talents, including Being Smart About Gifted Learning(2021), written with Dona J. Matthews. The goal of her latest book, for readers 12 and over, is to provide practical tools and novel ideas that will help kids overcome creative obstacles. For instance, Foster explodes the idea that only those typically identified as artists can be creative, and asserts that creative thinking can be a jumping-off point or “spark” for all sorts of activities: “Creativity is not necessarily about coming up with some sort of product (although that might occur), but rather it’s about activating your mind and nurturing your ideas.” Whether one is born with natural creativity or must develop it through practice, one can build habits and employ techniques that develop one’s abilities, according to the author. Foster speaks directly to young readers in these pages, and uses illustrative quotes and examples from a wide array of figures—both well-known (LL Cool J, Albert Einstein) and obscure (author Luc De Clapiers). She redefines the clichéd directive of “thinking outside the box” as “divergent thinking” and expands on it, stressing the importance of being open to new possibilities. Although the book’s subject matter is organized into three sections (“The Light You Kindle,” “The Glow You Nurture,” and “The Blaze You Choose”), it does not always feel cohesive; however, it includes takeaways at the end of each chapter that crystallize key ideas for easier comprehension. Arguably, the most valuable content is in Chapter 5, which addresses common creative blocks and remedies, and Chapter 8, which offers 100 engaging suggestions for how to corral, instigate, and explore creative ideas. Although the book’s overall tone is down-to-earth and easygoing, some terminology may be a bit complex for younger readers; there’s a glossary of terms at the end, but caregivers or teachers may wish to provide occasional help.
An often compelling manual that may fan the embers of readers’ creativity.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781953360298
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Gifted Unlimited
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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