Look around—inspiration is everywhere! Three friends go to the park, where it seems like nothing is happening—but something is.

The wind is stirring the trees and sending maple keys spiralling down through the air, inspiring the children to whirl and spin...which makes a baby laugh and clap, and a man tap a rhythm with his cane. Soon, the kids and those around them are part of a domino effect of creativity from painting and building castle forts to having daring adventures and sailing the imaginary seas, and finally staging a colorful parade and watching stories unfurl in the clouds.

The kids follow this path of creativity, until finally it's nighttime and they think nothing more could possibly happen. But something does: their minds continue to create fantastical possibilities in their dreams. (From Orca Book Publishers)

What Inspires is for ages 6-8.

Alison Hughes is a writer from Edmonton. She has written over 20 books for children and young adults, including Fly, Life Expectancy and Hit the Ground Running, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text. Her writing has been shortlisted for the Writers' Union Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers, longlisted for the 2011 CBC Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize.

Ellen Rooney is a designer, artist and children's book illustrator. She also illustrated the picture books Her Fearless Run by Kim Chaffee, Grandmother School by Rina Singh and Dusk Explorers by Lindsay Leslie. She lives in the southern Okanagan Valley, B.C.