Phil Weiss’s Think Like the D-Squad turns problem-solving into a conversation with four dogs. Sully notices, Baz tosses out ideas, Dash checks what holds up, and Phoebe steps back to question the whole approach. Dash narrates with a patient, dry sense of humor, while Baz supplies the delightful nonsense. A disappearing supply of birdseed, a bone trapped under a chair, and a sunny spot lost to a growing hedge give the dogs problems a child can picture. Each episode makes a thinking habit visible: pause before naming a cause, keep going past your first idea, look for evidence, and ask whether you’re trying to solve the right problem.

The book’s most useful lesson is that good thinking can happen in public and in company. Weiss returns often to the moment when a child has an unfinished idea but hesitates to say it. Baz’s guesses make room for possibilities; Sully’s mistakes show how a belief can change without becoming a verdict on the person who held it. Later chapters take on rumors, confidence, peer pressure, and disagreement. “How do you know?” becomes a question a reader can use with a friend, a video, or their own certainty. The dogs’ personalities keep these lessons grounded, especially when Dash catches himself dismissing a clue that conflicts with his careful notes.

Every chapter gives readers something to try, from noticing five overlooked details in a familiar room to finding a useful seed in a pile of silly ideas. Brief research sections explain some of the psychology behind the exercises, and the back matter includes discussion questions, a glossary, and a worksheet for working through a problem of your own. The repeated rhythm of story, explanation, and activity is easy to follow, though readers moving straight through eighteen chapters may notice the pattern. A mystery about Sully’s missing collection gives that structure an emotional thread. Its resolution lands gently because the book has spent so much time showing what it costs Sully to share something he cares about.

I’d recommend Think Like the D-Squad to curious readers ages eight to twelve who enjoy talking through puzzles, making things, or asking questions that don’t have quick answers. It should be especially welcome to a child who’s been made to feel that thinking slowly, thinking differently, or speaking tentatively means they have less to offer. Families and teachers could get a lot from reading a chapter together and actually trying its small challenge before moving on. The book treats thinking as something children can practice with others, and its best scenes let them see that practice happen.

Pages: 424 | ASIN: B0HJWJLJ4L