THE WORRY-WORRY WHALE MADE 32 MISTAKES

Can mistakes be a good thing?

Willa, the fretful cetacean star of The Worry-Worry Whale and the Classroom Jitters (2024), wants to swim backward but can’t. She’s kept score of her failed attempts: 32 and counting. Willa’s convinced she’s the only one who commits gaffes…until she discovers that her fellow marine pals also track personal failures while learning new skills. Unlike Willa, however, they’re proud of their goofs. Nar the narwhal proudly announces that she accrued 43 mistakes as she mastered the art of swimming upside down, while Mr. Fish has made 85 errors learning to play the flute. Willa’s confused; she keeps her failures a secret. At home, Dad reveals that his delicious, fresh-baked pastries are the result of 14,759 mistakes! Willa’s flabbergasted: Grown-ups make mistakes? Time to reconsider her assumptions. Turns out, mistakes are crucial for learning and improving. Putting on a whale-size smile, Willa sets out to make more errors—so she can learn and achieve her goals. Though a bit purposeful, this empowering testament to the growth mindset, expressed in bouncy verse, will help children internalize a counterintuitive message: Messing up motivates us to try, learn, and, finally, succeed. The illustrations are colorfully cartoony; Willa and company are delightfully expressive.

Make no mistake: This is a fun read that delivers an important, encouraging lesson.