Review of Big Ideas for Young Thinkers by Jamia Wilson

What is justice? What is freedom? What is bias? ... And who gets to have big ideas?

Studies show that children ask caregivers 300 questions a day during meals, trips to the market, and before bedtime. This book teaches children to think critically and discuss ideas in a world that needs bright young thinkers. Jamia Wilson expertly explores the difficult questions kids may ask by relating them to real-life examples and introducing a diverse range of thinkers and luminaries. Drawing on influences from ancient Greeks right up to modern-day American writers, the idea of philosophy – and who gets to have big ideas – is reimagined.

Choose a question or page to explore and discuss at a time. Relate to the real-life experiences, explore big ideas from a range of thinkers, and decide where you stand on the issue at hand. For example, try to recall your earliest memory. Can you remember a lot or a little? Do memories make us who we are? Or do we pick and choose them to suit who we are? This is a multi-layered book to be explored again and again.

Extra info in the book includes a manifesto for talking about difficult topics and managing disagreements, a glossary of terms, a timeline of key thinkers, and an index of themes.

Chapters are organised into five sections: Identity, Life, Truth, Culture, and Creativity. Questions include:

• Who am I?
• What is race?
• What is gender?
• What happens when we die?
• What is right and wrong?
• What is bias?
• What is freedom?
• What is justice?
• What is memory?

A mind-expanding book to challenge young thinkers, which reimagines philosophy for ages 9 and up.

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**My thoughts**
As a lifelong Montessorian, I appreciate the goal of this book. When I was a child, I learned to think outside of the box and to question all that was around me, to try to discover the truth for myself. I was constantly curious and loved to research different ideas and concepts that I ran across. Even now as an adult, I still do the same thing. I find myself traveling down rabbit holes to learn more about different opinions or to get more information on a topic. And as a Montessori educator, I always tried to inspire my kids to do the same thing. 

This book is intense. I do love how it starts off explaining that you are never going to agree with everybody. It's important to still be respectful and listen to what someone else has to say. Be respectful in how you present your own ideas. Own up to any mistakes that you may make, whether in fact or how you present your ideas. But also protect yourself from those who are overly negative. Set healthy boundaries. I think these are all concepts that we have forgotten, if my social media feeds over the past two years or so are any indication. 

And then the book gets into a lot of big topics that do not have easy answers. Each concept is discussed with a variety of different views on it over the centuries. Important people's names are listed in bold print, as encouragement to look them up should the paragraph be appealing to the reader. So many great quotations from a wide range of sources are found throughout. And there are probing questions to help the reader start to really reflect on each topic.

I think if this book is presented at an elementary age, it needs to be reserved for those who are more mature readers. I really think teenagers are more likely to be in a place where they are ready to tackle the conversations around most of these topics. And while I think it is important for the kids to reflect on how they feel about each topic, it is important for them to know there are trusted adults with whom they can converse about each of these topics, with no judgment or shame for expressing their thoughts, opinions, and questions. You could spend a year going over all of this information and digesting it. 

I think adults could even benefit from revisiting some of the topics in here and refreshing their brains with the different points of view over time, to really help them understand their own opinions and perhaps learn something new. I know it provoked me to think more about certain topics.

I gave it four stars overall. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.