The Book of Mistakes is a must have picture book for any child who struggles with perfectionism and failure. If you are building your child’s library, The Book of Mistakes is an absolute must!
Embrace imagination with The Book of Mistakes!
What a stunner this is! The Book of Mistakes, written and illustrated by newcomer Corrina Luyken, is a quiet masterpiece illuminating the inherent beauty that underlies every misstep we make.
Even years after first reading this book, I still cannot quite believe this is Lyuken’s debut. She is, without a doubt, one to watch. And this book is, without a doubt, one of our family favorites.
The Book of Mistakes follows an artist on her creative journey.
In The Book Of Mistakes, the reader follows Luyken on a creative journey – one that exquisitely depicts how “mistakes” actually become an integral component of illustrations. Luyken’s artistry is meant to be pored over and studied, with new, quirky details to be discovered each time the book is picked up for a reread. Though there are numerous children’s stories that touch upon opportunities arising from perceived errors, this one is as powerful as it is unassuming.
Beginning on the very first two spreads, the reader sees the artist’s very first mistake. Oh no — one of the girl’s eyes is bigger than the other! Does that mean the artist should rip up the paper and start over?
Nope. Absolutely not. In the following spreads, readers see how making the second eye bigger was also a bit of a mistake. But when the artist decides to add glasses to the character’s face, the girl looks perfect! Those glasses were not a mistake — and they look great. But would the artist have gotten to that point without her original mishaps?
And, oh no! The girl is now running but her feet don’t touch the ground. Ooops. Again, though, instead of ripping up the paper in frustration, the artist gets creative and adds roller skates to the girls feet to bring them closer to the sidewalk.
With every page turn in The Book of Mistakes, the reader is delighted to witness the ways in which Luyken’s illustrations go awry, yet she uses her imagination and creativity to add new details and dimensions to the art.
Simply put, the artist never gives up! And perhaps even more importantly, she makes every mistake work in her favor, as each becomes a part of an even more beautiful whole.
As the reader draws closer and closer to the end of the book, the illustrations get bigger and more dramatic, filling the white space with all of the mistakes that turned into beauty.
Use The Book of Mistakes to help kids unleash their creativity!
So many kids are perfectionists, beginning a project again and again because they can’t get it just right. So how can we, the “grown ups” help to nurture their creativity and limit their insecurity? Use The Book of Mistakes — and perhaps even pair it with A Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg — to show little ones that magnificence can be found in mistakes, even our biggest ones.
After all, An “oh no” can become an “oh wow!” with just a bit of endurance and a whole lot of heart and imagination.
Kids will be amazed at the manner in which Luyken’s smudges and spills become extraordinarily special, and for this reason, it gets two hearty trunks up. This is one we read again and again in our house… and I have no doubt The Book of Mistakes will be one my boys carry with them throughout their lives.
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