Zevin posits in part 1 that traditional teaching is failing primarily because teachers are too comfortable staying inside the box. The constrictive environment of schools has left teachers few alternatives but to provide students with correct answers to memorize, pacify students through direct instruction, and dispense information through mind-numbing PowerPoints. This has become the norm and falls short of the educational mental health that would occur through creative teaching. Citing Jerome Bruner, Benjamin Bloom, and John Dewey, Zevin proposes collaboration and an atmosphere of playfulness. Disappointingly, the arsenal of creative teaching tactics in part 1 is limited to strategies, such as mock trials or debates. Refreshingly, part 2 is an analysis of six engines of creativity with many outside-the-box scenarios offered. The first engine, creative attention, is awakened through careful observation. In the second, those individual observations are aroused by inductive examination identifying concepts, categories, and metaphors.

The third engine, curiosity, calls for hypotheses. Through the fourth engine, students are presented with contradictions, ambiguities, or converging views. Next, those perspectives are explored. Finally, temporary evaluations are drawn. Overall, Zevin's book is a tribute to creative teaching. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate and professional collections.