Failure arrives in a child’s life long before anyone has explained it. The tower falls over. The whistle will not come out. The team loses by eleven. The spelling word that was practiced forty times comes back with a red line through it. What a child concludes in that first hour matters more than the result did — that they are bad at building, that they are bad at whistling, or simply that today was a bad day for towers. The best books on this shelf pick the third answer, and they earn it by letting the attempt actually fail first.
Drawing from Bookroo’s collection of 75 children’s books about coping with failure, our editors chose twelve stories that stay in the hard part long enough to be useful. Some end with the thing finally working; several end with it still not working, which is the harder and more honest ending. Start with our favorites, then browse sturdy books for toddlers whose plans collapse, picture books for the wrecked project and the missed shot, and chapter books for readers old enough to lose a whole season.
A girl sets out to build the most magnificent thing, and builds a long line of wrong things instead.
Rosie’s cheese-copter flies for exactly one glorious moment before it crashes in front of everyone.
Ramon’s brother laughs at his drawing, and Ramon stops drawing until his sister shows him where the crumpled pages went.
Lou is good at everything until her friends want to climb a tree, and the excuses start arriving.
Everything a child cannot do comes with a small glowing companion called Yet.
Beatrice Bottomwell has never made a mistake in her life, which is becoming a serious problem.
A boy tries every method he can think of to catch a star, and none of them work.
Sam and Dave dig for something spectacular and turn away from it, repeatedly, by about six inches.
Long before six championships, Michael Jordan was the shortest kid on the court and losing every game.
Thirty-five famous people, collected at the moment things went badly wrong for them.
Ally has been through six schools convinced she is stupid, because letters move on the page.
Astrid signs up for roller derby camp and turns out to be, by a wide margin, the worst skater there.
Sturdy stories about plans that collapse, dances nobody can do, and small creatures who climb back up the spout — ages 0–4.
A giraffe finds his rhythm and learns to dance.
Rabbit's carrot obsession leads to chaos. Can friends help him find space?
A stuck truck sparks chaos and creativity. Can kids and a dog save the day?
A duck observes a spider's watery journey.
Read-alouds about the wrecked project, the crumpled drawing, the missed shot, and the walk around the block that comes after — ages 3–8.
A famous egg who fell off a wall recounts his journey to overcome his fears and learn to fly.
Mistakes become wonders in this interactive journey of creativity.
A child faces a growing problem, discovering unexpected possibilities by confronting it.
A child tries to build something but it doesn't go as planned.
Ava's sheep quit, leaving chaos as new animals try to help her sleep.
Can a simple stick be the perfect gift for a bear with everything?
Three spellers face off in a tense bee. Who will win with a surprise twist looming?
Mistakes become masterpieces in a whimsical artistic journey.
A bird's unique chirp isolates him until he finds an unexpected friend who understands him.
Discover the hidden gifts of failure and the journey it begins.
A boy's care transforms a gray city into a lush garden.
An inventor builds a submarine to explore Lake Michigan's depths.
Longer stories about slumps, cut-from-the-team seasons, school subjects that will not come, and the slow work of getting better — ages 6–12.
A young sprinter must outrun his past to achieve greatness on the track team.
A girl discovers her hearing aid grants her unexpected powers at a new school. Can she find friendship amidst her newfound abilities?
A young inventor helps her friend participate in an art contest despite her physical limitations
A boy survives a plane crash and must endure the wilderness with only a hatchet.
Four students unite to save their teacher's job and their futures from unorthodox teaching scrutiny.
A broken phone shatters friendships, but a surprise audition changes everything.
A star player must choose between quitting or transforming his losing team.
A dropped pass haunts Keith. Can he overcome the past and reclaim his future on the field?
A young ghost struggles to master scare skills at a daunting school.
A pug's basketball skills lead to unexpected challenges. Can he stay true to himself?
Can he overcome self-doubt and prove he's not a quitter?
A young hockey player battles fear after a hard hit. Can he overcome it?
