Mistake Bank Bookshelf: "Mistakes That Worked"

This week's selection for the Mistake Bank bookshelf is "Mistakes That Worked," by Charlotte Foltz Jones with illustrations by the New Yorker artist John O'Brien.

I stumbled onto this kids' book as I was thinking about what might be the next book project. "Mistakes That Worked" covers 40 inventions, building projects, place names, and even food products that were shaped by mistakes. It's humorous, yet has powerful lessons for kids who are asked to conform to undifferentiated standards of performance and assessed constantly against them. The lessons apply to their parents and teachers as well.