A lovely, metaphorical story about the power of imagination, collaboration, and self-confidence, with a nonbinary protagonist.
A child named Finn wakes up in the middle of the night with an idea—an exciting one, depicted in the illustrations as swirls of thought above Finn’s head. The next day, they share it with friends at school, where “the idea flew into the air, expanding so quickly, it tumbled backward, sideways, and even a bit upside down.” Friends help shape the idea into a plan, and the idea continues to expand.
Finn grows increasingly excited—until a bully on the schoolyard knocks it down and tells Finn that ideas shouldn’t look like that. Finn begins to doubt, and hides the idea away, where it shrinks as the world around Finn darkens. When Finn reexamines the idea, though, they see nothing wrong with it, and they realize they need to share it even further, allowing friends to add to it as it swirls and grows above them. Eventually, even the bully contributes, and the idea soars in multiple colors above all of the children.
Finn’s idea is never specified, which actually makes this gentle story widely applicable and offers much opportunity for discussion with young readers.
