By Phil Weiss (author)
"Think Like the D-Squad is best tackled in bite-size chunks, with science boxes and invitations to try new skills adding to its interactive vibe."
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Billed as a “critical and creative thinking book for every kind of mind”, Phil Weiss’ Think Like the D-Squad begins with an engaging “Not-so Typical Author’s Note” in which Weiss shares personal detail on how his premature sons, “two kids who weren’t supposed to survive”, grew up into “two young men who figured out how to think their way through a world that wasn’t designed for them”, and background on how he, diagnosed as autistic later in life, was written off in school despite playing sanctioned backgammon tournaments against adults outside educational institutions.
Such is the inclusive context of a unique book that blends mystery fiction with non-fiction to create a toolkit kids could use to solve problems in the real world. The D-Squad of the title is a crew of four canines (based on the author’s own dogs) who approach solving problems in their own distinct way.
Dash narrates the story in a lively, darting conversational style that directs the reader to “Notice what’s actually happening (that’s Sully). Wonder wildly, without filtering (that’s Baz). Test your ideas against the real world instead of arguing in your head (that’s me).
And every so often, Zoom Out — stop solving the problem long enough to ask whether it’s even the right problem (that’s Phoebe)”. Underpinned by the belief that “just because a kid has a learning difference doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to the best”, the book is packed with interjections that break the fourth wall and take readers on thinking tangents.
Given its detail and scope, Think Like the D-Squad is best tackled in bite-size chunks, with science boxes and invitations to try new skills adding to its interactive vibe.
Joanne Owen, A LoveReading4Kids Ambassador
Sully stopped showing us his finds. Baz blames a raccoon. Dash wants proof.
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Phoebe already knows. Think Like the D-Squad is a hybrid of nonfiction and fiction that turns four real dogs—and the different ways they approach problems—into a thinking toolkit kids can use. Dash narrates.
Sully notices what everybody else walks past. Baz wonders out loud, ten wild ideas at a time, most of them wrong, which is the point. Dash tests hunches instead of arguing.
Phoebe asks the question nobody thought to ask. Notice. Wonder.
Test. Zoom Out. Across eighteen funny chapters and a final chapter that brings all four moves together, kids ages 8 to 12 learn how to spot the real problem, generate ideas without filtering too soon, check what they think they know, change their minds when evidence changes, disagree without fighting, and recognize when the better answer starts with a different question.
An ongoing mystery about Sully runs through the book. Optional science boxes connect the chapters to real research, from the invisible-gorilla experiment to forecasters who perform better by changing their minds as evidence changes. Each chapter includes a short dare to try the skill.
The back of the book adds a glossary, discussion questions, a fill-in case file, sources, and standards alignment for classrooms and homeschools. Author Phil Weiss was failing three of his four major eighth-grade subjects while playing sanctioned backgammon tournaments against adults. Diagnosed as autistic later in life, he wrote the D-Squad for every kind of thinker: the kid who struggles, the kid who races ahead, and everyone in between.
Sully stopped showing us his finds. Baz blames a raccoon.
Think Like the D-Sqaud features in the following genres: Indie Author Books , Recommendations
Paperback. Not Available.
Think Like the D-Sqaud was written by Phil Weiss and published by Fluffy & Flick Press
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