Beautiful Oops
Workman Publishing/Thomas Allen and Son
age 5-8
By author and illustrator Barney Saltzberg
28 pages
Synopsis from Thomas Allen & Son
A life lesson that all parents want their children to learn: It’s OK to make a mistake. In fact, hooray for mistakes! A mistake is an adventure in creativity, a portal of discovery. A spill doesn’t ruin a drawing—not when it becomes the shape of a goofy animal. And an accidental tear in your paper? Don’t be upset about it when you can turn it into the roaring mouth of an alligator.
My kids love to draw and colour and paint and create. It’s great to see their enthusiasm and excitement as they capture on paper what is floating around in their head. But sometimes their paper gets ripped or something gets spilled or a line ends up in the wrong spot. This usually ends with the project being crumpled up and tossed to the side.
All that may change after reading Workman Publishing’s latest book Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg. This small, hard cover book involves kids by giving them flaps to open and shapes to look through. Each page takes art mishap, like spilled paint, and turns it into a work of art.
My kids related completely to the different mishaps shown in the book but they were amazed at how Barney Satzberg turned these into art. Who would think a rip on page could be turned into a crocodile’s mouth or paint drips could be wheels on a car.
Beautiful Oops shows kids that it is okay if mistakes happen; sometimes they can turn into new ideas. All three of my kids loved to look and feel and interact with the book. I think after reading Beautiful Oops my kids will actually go out of their way to make mistakes so they can try to create new and interesting art ideas.
You can find a copy of Beautiful Oops at your local bookstore or at Thomas Allen & Son. Visit our Kid’s Books section for other great book recommendations.