Mistakes That Worked 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came To Be (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) by Charlotte Foltz Jones (1994-06-01) School & Library Binding – 1798

I purchased the book for my 7 yr old and it seemed a little advanced for her, but she is reading it and was enthusiastic enough to take it to her teacher to show. I purchased it to teach her about the natural human (and other) frailty... Sometimes, a young child can be hard on themselves in their perceptions of an error. I felt that my child needed to read re-enforcing examples partially serve to provoke a foundation of lifelong self value along with historical knowledge of the world.

What a great book, have used it twice for the topic in teaching paragraph writing. The stories are great and interesting, it really got the students engaged in their writing.

The images are pretty but I wish they would’ve use a simpler and attractive language for kids.

I have this book in my office at school. I think it's a great way to show kids that mistakes are a wonderful learning opportunity and sometimes lead to unexpected success. Great for teaching or incorporation growth mindset.

Excellent book for teaching kids that all mistakes are not bad, trying out something new pays off. 4th graders were fascinated with it.

ironically i accidentally bought this book. Went to look at the details and hit the buy now button, even though i have 1-click turned off it still purchased it Happy accident though because my son who is super picky loved it!

This book is really cute and the stories are informative and interesting! My one complaint is that the short stories can require a high level of vocabulary and background knowledge. I work with students that range from 3rd-6th grade and some of them had difficulty understanding the passages. I wish they wrote them to be a little more kid friendly.

Why does a book about how great accidents are start with a sentence ending with: "But the numerous cases of food poisoning prove many food accidents don't work." I'm sorry, what was the point of this book? Literally, in the first paragraph, ON PAGE ONE, you are warning people to be worried about something horrible that will come of your mistake. This is then followed up with a "if you want to experiment in the kitchen, buy this other book" and kitchen safety tips. I get that you don't want to encourage kids to do something dangerous, but surely you could have found a less invasive, more engaging way of making your warnings that won't turn off a child? It's this kind of fear-mongering among my parents' generation that prevented me from experimenting more, and I thought the point of a book like this was to help kids recognize that mistakes can be good. There are some interesting facts in this book, but the presentation and tone are not what I hoped for to inspire a child.