This colorful, fun yet challenging 240-page book teaches and develops students' thinking and problem-solving skills. It helps students build confidence and self-esteem in their problem-solving skills as they learn new educational concepts. It is common for many preschool and kindergarten students to guess at challenging activities rather than use a reasoned approach (organized analysis) to arrive at an answer. Learning to use organized analysis at an early age is an important part of success in reading, writing, math, and science.

This book is also an excellent test-prep resource for preschool and kindergarten students because the activities exceed the cognitive challenges in most kindergarten cognitive tests. It is also effective at developing academic vocabulary if students are asked to explain why their answer is correct.

Students who begin this book should understand the basic concepts (colors, geometric shapes, types of lines, position, etc.) taught in Building Thinking Skills Beginning 1. Because the activities are challenging—and because of the importance of students verbalizing their thinking—it is recommended that students work with a teacher or parent as they work through the activities.