All the Ways to Be Smart

Product Information

Mancini E, et al. (2017). Green tea effects on cognition, mood and human brain function: A systematic review. DOI: All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell explores multiple intelligences in a way that small children can understand and appreciate. Every child is smart in his or her own way. Some of the ways highlighted in a pleasing rhyme include creativity, physical activities, music, emotional sensitivity, memorising information, math, and traditional academic knowledge ... The illustrations by Allison Colpoys are colourful and inviting, reminiscent of the early Dr. Seuss style ... This is a charming book to help children understand that everyone has special skills and talents. The book, All the Ways to Be Smart , aims to teach children that there is more to being smart than reading to maths and encourages the pursuit of the arts. This book teaches children that intelligence is so much more than being book-smart. Intelligence can also mean being empathetic, artistic, athletic, and inquisitive. It places value in every kind of talent, from ‘building boats from boxes’ to ‘kindness when there’s crying’. All the Ways to Be Smart is the perfect feel-good bedtime story that I can’t wait to gift this Christmas. This book needs to be in the hands of every policy-maker in the sphere of Education, in every classroom, in every library, and in every home … This book is an utterly glorious call to celebrate your strengths and your own unique smarts.

Australian author/illustrator team Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys, who previously collaborated on Captain Starfish (originally published as The Underwater Fancy-Dress Parade) and Under the Love Umbrella, join forces again in this lovely picture-book exploration of intelligence. The rhyming text describes the many different kinds of activities and personal qualities that require intelligence, thereby highlighting that there are many different kinds of smarts, while the colorful artwork depicts those activities and qualities...A picture book that is joyous, life-affirming, and challenges stereotypes about what it means to be clever. Intrapersonal – ‘I use self-reflection and analysis to set personal goals and identify my strengths and weaknesses.’ Bell L, et al. (2015). A review of the cognitive effects observed in humans following acute supplementation with flavonoids, and their associated mechanisms of action. A celebration of creativity and emotional intelligence featuring a diverse cast of kids. A reassuring read for primary-aged children who feel like a round peg in a square, academic hole.

Brinke LF, et al. (2015). Aerobic exercise increases hippocampal volume in older women with probable mild cognitive impairment: A 6-month randomized controlled trial. Smart at matching shapes in pairs, like hexagons and big blue squares. Counting all the way past forty, being sorry when you're naughty." He has dyscalculia, AND is color blind, never mind that we don't call people "naughty" which means the same thing as "bad." We all make poor decisions sometimes, that doesn't make our very nature bad which those words tend to imply. Hello, friends! Our book today is All The Ways To Be Smart, written by Davina Bell and illustrated by Allison Colpoys, a delightful ode to different types of intelligence. This should be required reading — in families, at workplaces, in schools. I love this beautiful, confidence-building book. I think everyone will find something here to make them feel better about themselves (and appreciate those around them). Berns GS, et al. (2013). Short- and long-term effects of a novel on connectivity in the brain. DOI:Simple, flowing words coupled with fluorescent illustrations (created from ink, charcoal, and pencil, then digitally assembled) give young readers a book brimming with examples of how they are smart all day, every day … Realistic illustrations show children of varying racial presentations joining sentient animals and benign, hairy monsters to confidently explore their world, real and imagined. This book is also beautifully illustrated and the two year old that I looked after absolutely loved it, he would often sit looking through the images on his own. This is a lovely thing as it introduces them to the book and its teaching before they have been conditioned to think anything else. Being sorry when you’re naughty’, for example, is an expression of interpersonal intelligence. ‘Drawing witches hats’ and ‘gluing wings on bats’ is linked to bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Basso JC, et al. (2019). Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators. DOI:

Our open-ended mathematics investigation has been designed to deepen students’ understanding of length, and it’s the perfect activity to do after reading this book for a little bit of maths inclusion. Smart at drawing very pointy stars." Wow, again, a kid with learning disabilities like dysgraphia is gonna find this one a gut punch yet again. This picture book is a celebration of creativity and the imagination. It's a celebration of empathy. It's a celebration of individuality. This is true meaning of life stuff that every child needs to hear. It should be written into the curriculum at every single school, and it should be found in every home library. I have noticed that in year 1, a lot of children begin to get a fixed mindset when it comes to their ability and it would be very beneficial to remind them that smartness isn’t about how well they do on a maths test, it is much more about how they act, how they respond to each other and how they think. Everything that a child does can be a form of smartness when it is approached in the right way and this is a really important lesson to remind children of all age groups. It would be good to introduce it young so that the idea is intrinsic to them. Zeidan F, et al. (2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training. DOI:

All the Ways to Be Smart Children’s Book

Alisi L, et al. (2019). The relationships between vitamin K and cognition: A review of current evidence.

I think this unique book with colourful illustrations by Allison Colpoys can help children feel proud of what makes them special. Being smart is more than just one thing; it’s not just being good at taking tests or doing math or getting good grades in school. No, a person can be smart in lots of ways! They can be smart at making crafts or drawing pictures, or dancing, or being brave. They can be smart at caring for others, especially when that person is hurt or shy. They can be smart at imagination, play, music, tea parties, or even blowing bubbles. Even simply sitting still and being quiet; this is something smart, too. Rest assured, not everyone has to be smart in the same way – and sharing all the different ways we are smart makes the world better every day. Beydoun MA, et al. (2014). Caffeine and alcohol intakes and overall nutrient adequacy are associated with longitudinal cognitive performance among U.S. adults. DOI: I remember feeling so frustrated as a child because I wanted there to be more than one meaning of ‘smart’. This book validates how everyone is smart in their own unique way. I want to share this book with every child (and adult!)Suwabe K, et al. (2018). Rapid stimulation of human dentate gyrus function with acute mild exercise. DOI: