What Do You Think - How to Agree and Disagree and Still Be Friends

Matthew Syed has written another fun non-fiction book for young people. This one introduces different types of thinking and communication through various anecdotes of his life.

Syed covers issues such as what causes people to think the way they do. He covers what anchors their beliefs and what influences them, why people argue, fake news, disagreeing, when rows go wrong and the benefits of arguments (as in debating, and changing your mind in the face of opposing evidence).

The book is bright with cheerful cartoon-like illustrations and speech bubbles to support the meaning. It contains many current references and some pop-culture and food references local to the UK, however I am certain that the majority of New Zealanders would have no problems with this. It would work well as a read aloud if you wanted to cover these issues in a class or at home, even just taking one chapter as required - although I would want to make sure my class could see the pictures, speech bubbles, etc.

I would recommend this book to readers from 10 to 14 years, although I can imagine some outside that group still enjoying it - older ones still picking up on the message and younger ones enjoying the pictures and stories.