Book Review: "How We Are Smart" by W. Nikola-Lisa

How We Are Smart

Authored W. Nikola-Lisa; Illustrated by Sean Qualls

Lee & Low Publishers, 2006

Book review by Lucine Kasbarian for IndyKids newspaper, Fall 2006

When Puerto Rican percussionist Tito Puente was a boy, he’d bang on cans and walls in the house. Instead of scolding him, his mother bought him a drum kit. Her support paid off: Tito grew up to become a drumming legend, winning six Grammy Awards for musical excellence.

How We Are Smart profiles 12 famous Americans from many different ethnic and social backgrounds who were all smart in different kinds of ways.

Each profile honors a person who applied his or her talents and achieved outstanding things.

To discover your own smarts, take this free test: www.mitest.com/omitest.htm

Which Smarts Are You?

According to psychologists Howard Gardner and Thomas Armstrong, there are eight kinds of smarts:

Logic Smart: Solving difficult problems with language or numbers.

Body Smart: Using our body to solve problems or communicate ideas.

Music Smart: Being aware of nonverbal sounds in our surroundings.

Nature Smart: Classifying things and understanding the environment.

People Smart: Being aware of the moods, feelings and desires of others.

Picture Smart: Creating mental images of what we’re thinking about.

Self Smart: Having a good knowledge of our own strengths and weaknesses.

Word Smart: Being good at spoken and written languages.