Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Lost for Words
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Peachtree Publishers, 2014 ISBN: 978-1561457397
Tapir has a brand new notebook and some colored pencils and he wants to write something, but he has no idea what to write. For some reason his head is empty of ideas and inspiration, and what makes his situation more frustrating is that his friends’ heads are full of writing ideas.
Giraffe has no problem writing down a poem about a tree, and hippo easily crafts a story as he lies in his muddy pool. Flamingo uses her skill with words to compose a song, a song that is “so perfect it brought a tear to Tapir’s eye.”
Tapir tries humming like flamingo, wallowing like hippo, and munching leaves like giraffe but no words come to him and he gets very grumpy. Surely there must be something he can write about?
All too often, when we are determined to create something, our creativity abandons us and we are left staring at a blank piece of paper. This is what happens to poor Tapir, who wants so badly to write something in his notebook. What he does not realize is that he is full of creativity, it just isn’t in a form that he is expecting.
This charming picture book explores the idea that creativity will not be forced and sometimes the creative process can be full of surprises.
