The Michael Michalko books are more useful and inspiring. ( )

A quick and easy read. I do like the frameworks presented: the 6 W's (who/what, how much, when, where, how, why) and their corresponding typical pictures, the SQVID (simple/elaborate, qualitative/quantitative, vision/execution, individual/comparison, delta/status quo, and the matrix of the two (the so-called "Visual Thinking Codex"). It may be somewhat oversimplified, but it's a useful starting point. I think it's worth buying to put on the shelf next to Presentation Zen and Slide:ology. My primary complaint is the size/format of the book. In an effort to be cute or prove a point, the publisher and author decided to make the book the size of a cocktail napkin. Nice for marketing, but horrible for legibility. Some of the hand-drawn pictures are so small as to be impossible to "read". ( )

The subtitle of this book is Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. I find the Selling Ideas part to be much more useful. For me, the most important information gained was in the Visual Thinking Codex – the diagram that shows when to use what type of picture. I often find myself wanting to use a picture to describe an idea with no idea where to start; now I have that starting point. ( )

Compact enough and provides a theoretical framework for creating visuals that will have some real impact on the audience and help them see the 'big picture'. A very nice biograph on visual thinking and exercises is a real plus. ( )

I like graphic organizers – that invention to represent ideas in picture form. Most teacher librarians know and use Inspriation or Kidspiration and teach young people how to organize their thought and ideas from what they read. But if you don’t know about those packages or cannot afford them, then Roam’s system is interesting. Essentially, Roam shows how the created a system of pictures that represented ideas – a picture shorthand of sorts. For example, a rectangle represents a what problem to solve. Two arrows pointing the same way with a question mark means a when problem. So, his scribbles help him attack who, how, when, where, and how problems. And, the more he uses them, the more complex they become as thinks through the symbols. So, what does this have to do with teacher librarians? I think the discovery here, is that we give a gift to learners who embrace graphic organizers. It is a gift of thinking, analysis, synthesis, and seeing the big picture. While a computer program may be quite helpful to a novice learner, we can encourage leaner’s to go beyond what a computer is doing for them to invent systems that stimulate their own thinking. It is the push a piano teacher gives the student at the point where it is time to take flight. “You don’t need me as your teacher any more.” You are a performer (an information literate). Perhaps that is why this book appeals to me – it represents a challenge every teacher librarian faces. How many of our students become independent learners because of us? Read a bit in this book. It may stimulate your own thinking about problem solving through graphic organizers. I’m talking about personal and professional ones as well as what we can do for our students.