The Mistakes That Made Us is a wonderful anthology of poems for young readers about mistakes and how you deal with them. I really loved this book. The mistakes it talked about varied from very silly to serious, but each one let the reader know that they were not alone.

As a child, I worried a lot anytime I made small mistakes. A book like this could have been so helpful! I would definitely recommend it for littles! The poems are fun & engaging. There are so many wonderful poets included that I feel like everyone would find something that touches their heart in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lerner Publishing, and all of the amazing poets for the chance to read & review!

4.5 stars! I love the title of this book. I love that the poems feel accessible, and that there are short, kid-friendly explanations of what they learned from each mistake. The illustrations are amazing as well.

I would just encourage discretion with a few of the stories. One story is about a boy who skips school once, and another is about a girl who says “So I didn’t try my hardest [and it worked out better that way].” For some kids, hearing such messaging would be unhelpful. However, I’m guessing that most kids who need this book (on mistakes being okay) err on the side of being too perfectionistic, and it would be alright to lighten up a little.

This is a great book and seems age-appropriate for the recommended 7-11 age group. I could see it being used at home or in a classroom. Thank you to NetGalley for the free eARC; these are my honest opinions.

I LOVED this book and the concepts that came with it! Such great conversations came from this from my kids. They really opened up after reading it. Great book! All schools should read this book to elementary kids