6 Picture Books About Learning From Mistakes

An Orange for Frankie, by Patricia Polacco
Frankie, the youngest boy of nine children, eagerly awaits his father’s return from Lansing to bring home nine delectable oranges for Christmas. However, a menacing snow storm delays their father’s arrival, worrying the family. To ease their worry, his mother, Mrs. Stowell, encourages the children to feed the homeless, pick out green boughs to decorate the mantel, and finally, pick out a Christmas tree. To the children’s relief and delight, their father arrives, armed with a crateful of juicy Florida oranges, one for each child. Mr. Stowell instructs all the children that they are not to touch the oranges until after Christmas supper. Frankie, overwhelmed with joy, reaches for his orange. Although he faces a heartbreaking consequence as a result of disobedience, he learns a valuable lesson. No error is so great that it cannot be redeemed by the unconditional love of family.

A Pair of Red Clogs, by Masako Matsuno and Kazue Mizumura
A Japanese girl, Mako, gets a beautiful pair of red clogs only to crack them by playing a weather-telling game. This game involves flinging clogs into the air and determining the weather based on how the clogs land on the floor. Saddened that she will have to wait two months before she sees another pair, Mako forges a dishonest plan to get her mother to buy her a new pair. But a wise Mom is onto her and beats her to the punch. Not only does Mako learn not to pull a fast one on her mom again, but she is also humbled by the power of her mother’s love and wisdom.

The Quiltmaker’s Journey, by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken
A young wealthy woman lives in a town enclosed by a massive stone wall and sheltered from the rest of the world. Surrounded by great wealth and comfort, she assumes that everyone outside those impenetrable walls lives the same way. Moved by an inner restlessness and a desire for purpose, she disobeys the town Elders’ rules against leaving the town and is exposed to the truth. In what her society considers a potentially grave mistake, she is instructed in the meaning of generosity and the value of using your gifts and talents to enrich other’s lives.

One, by Kathryn Otoshi
The color Blue is content with being Blue, but Blue’s contentment quickly sours to discontent as its world is disrupted by the color Red. Red is an overpowering and arrogant color! Red ridicules Blue for being Blue until it is sad. Other colors quickly come to comfort Blue, although they never confront Red. Blue faces repeated and merciless taunts until the number One intervenes and stands up for Blue. When Red begins a counterattack, it is outnumbered by the other colors. Blue reaches out to Red, in a peaceful way. Red has a change of heart and joins the happy color and number bunch. In this way, Red discovers the importance of accepting the differences of others.

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
Beatrice Bottomwell is famous for never making a single mistake. In fact, she is so famous that her town has named her, “The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes”, which is a lofty title to live up to. On one particular day, Beatrice begins by following her normal routines without a hitch. That is, until she almost makes a mistake! Confounded by this “almost mistake”, she begins to lose confidence in her ability to keep her famous and undisputed title, ultimately coming to learn, the hard way, that “to err is human.” Even the Girls Who Never Make Mistakes, make mistakes.

The Day Roy Riegels Ran the Wrong Way, by Dan Gutman and Kerry Talbott
Making a mistake in a very public way would discourage most from facing the public for a long time, but not Roy Riegels. This is the true story of Riegels, who played center for the California Golden Bears. At the Rose Bowl in 1929, Riegels and his team were going up against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. When the Georgia Tech team fumbled their ball, Riegels grabs it and began to run with all his might, avoiding all would-be tacklers. But he was running in the wrong direction! In spite of his blunder, Riegels played well during the second half of the game. The takeaway? Mistakes will be made. It’s what you do after that matters!
What are your favorite children’s books about making mistakes?