In my parent ed classes, I present a session called “Raising Bold Kids” where we talk about grit, the growth based mindset, independence, teaching children to problem solve, and resilience. This year, someone asked if I had books I would recommend reading to children to help teach these sorts of skills. Here’s a list!

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Pett and Rubinstein. (Video) This tells of Beatrice, famed far and wide for never making mistakes. One day she slips and almost makes a mistake. She worries about that all that day. She watches friends ice skating but is afraid to join them because she doesn’t want to risk falling. At the talent show: “for the first time in as long as anyone could remember, Beatrice made a mistake. And it was a big one!” She ends up laughing about it, then starts taking more risks, and trying things like ice skating – where yes, she falls down a lot, but she also has lots of fun. Great read-aloud for age 4 – 7.

The Most Magnificent Thing  by Spires. (Video.) A little girl wants to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing. She draws it out, and knows exactly how it will work. But when she tries to make it she fails again and again and gets very discouraged. But then she looks at all the things she made, finds the best thing about each, tries again and succeeds. People love all her “failed” experiments and take them home to use. Great read-aloud for ages 3 – 7. I appreciate that it really shows her emotions and how she deals with them, and lets kids know it’s OK to make mistakes.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Beaty. (Video) Rosie dreams of being an engineer, and builds cool stuff out of trash, but then her uncle laughs at her and she stops inventing till Aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter in her later years) comes to visit. They build a heli-o-cheese-copter. It only flies for a moment and Rosie is discouraged, till Aunt Rose says “it’s the perfect first try! This great flop is over, it’s time for the next”. They keep building together. Ages 3 – 7.

Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall. (video) Jabari wants to build a flying machine to fly across the back yard but it keeps crashing. He reluctantly lets his little sister help, and in the end, gets inspiration from her that leads to success. Nice story with a Black family that includes being inspired by Black inventors and engineers and also shows Dad encouraging a frustrated child to take a break, take a deep breath and try again. For more inventor themed books, check out Izzy Gizmo and Audrey the Amazing Inventor.

After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Santat. (video) Humpty loves sitting atop the wall, looking at birds. But after he falls and is put back together again, he develops a fear of heights and lives a sad life dreaming of flying. In the end he overcomes his fears and learns to soar.

Pete the Cat – I love my white shoes by Litwin and Dean. (video) Although I find many of the 60+ Pete the Cat books to be disappointing, this first one is magic. Pete’s walking along, singing his song, steps in a pile of strawberries, blueberries, and so on. Does Pete cry? Goodness no, he just keeps walking along singing his song.

All of those books model the Growth Based Mindset. If you’re looking for a book that is more explicitly about the mindset, you might also like:

The Magical Yet by DiTerlizzi and Gomez. (video) Talks about how failing at something (riding a bike) can be disappointing and make you want to quit trying. Then talks about the importance of keeping trying till you succeed. Protagonist is a person of color.

Growth Mindset Ninja by Nhin. (Video) “What you do is add the “yet” to everything. Then wait for the magic to happen in your brain.” And also check out: Your Fantastic Elastic Brain (Video)

Here are three art-specific books to choose from:

Beautiful Oops – Saltzberg (video) is a fun lift the flap which shows how to turn things like an accidental drip of paint, or a stain from a spill, into art. Ends with this message: “When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful.”

Book of Mistakes – Luyken (video). Shows illustrations in progress as the artist keeps making adjustments: “It started with one mistake… making the other eye even bigger was a bigger mistake… but the glasses – they were a good idea.”

The Dot and Ish by Reynolds – this is a two pack of books. In the Dot (video), a child named Vashti is afraid to try drawing. She makes one dot on the paper. The teacher frames it! Vashti decides she can paint a better dot, and makes dots of all sizes and colors. Then she encourages others to try. In the Ish (video), Ramon loves to draw anytime, anywhere. After his brother makes fun of one of his drawings, he gets self-conscious and crumples all of his artwork. Then he discovers his sister has been saving and hanging his art. He learns he doesn’t have to draw the perfect house – something that’s house-ish is just fine. He starts experimenting with drawing-ish, poems-ish, and so on, just enjoying creating.

Note: the book links are Amazon affilate links – I do get a small bonus (at no cost to you) if you click on these links and then purchase anything on Amazon. The videos are on YouTube – I encourage you to use them to preview but then purchase a legitimate copy of the book or get it from your library. It’s important to support authors and artists!

Find more book recommendations.