Fail-a-bration

July 1, 2024
Making mistakes is demoralizing; husband-and-wife team Brad and Kristi Montague have a solution: hold a Fail-a-Bration. A Fail-a-Bration, the authors explain, is a party where participants consider past mistakes and learn from them together. Racially diverse kids, including one who uses a wheelchair, and several animals--a mouse, a bear, and a dinosaur--deal with minor but disheartening failures, from being cut from a sports team and spilling milk to ripping one's pants while dancing to breaking a toy plane. Well, the dinosaur inadvertently frightens everyone, but most of the misfortunes are everyday occurrences. The suggestions for throwing a Fail-a-Bration are practical--send out invitations, decorate, and set up activities--but do most kids really want to attend a party where they discuss their mistakes? To say, "I failed at something today. Tomorrow, I'll fail better"? One of the suggested party games is Terrible Charades, where players intentionally mislead guessers, which might be fun but will also be challenging for young children. The story's didactic approach and purposeful verse are made more palatable by amusing illustrations done in a collage style, complete with real elements, such as cake icing, red-and-white bakery string, cookies, and cardboard. Overall, the premise falls a bit flat, but given many schools' emphasis on social-emotional learning, educators may find the book useful. Visually appealing, but this is one celebration kids won't be begging to attend. (Picture book. 4-6)

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September 13, 2024

K-Gr 3-With clever end papers illustrating the many hilarious ways we routinely "fail" ("popped the balloon," "got stuck in a cart," "cut your own hair") coupled with a declaration on the title page: "Important things to know: 1. This book is a party. 2. Everyone is invited," the creators set a light, festive tone that carries through the celebratory text and illustrations. The story begins with a simple question: "Have you ever messed up?" Readers will breathe a sigh of relief because, of course, we all have the same answer to this question. Intricately sketched and collaged illustrations make use of creative enhancements like string, icing, cookies, double stick tape, and more, and offer jubilant fails-a ridiculous attempt at icing a cake, for example. The festive images and bright palette underscore the bouncy rhyming text, yielding a lighthearted message that everyone sometimes needs: "When you mess up, it isn't fun!/ Well, failing is part of a process./ It helps to remember you're not done." So, what to do? Have a Fail-A-Bration! Complete with an author's note about the story's inspiration and ideas for how to throw a great party, readers will agree: "Maybe if there were more Fail-A-Brations/ The world would feel a whole lot less alone." VERDICT With a celebratory tone and inclusive message, librarians and teachers will be planning a lot of Fail-A-Brations for their young learners.-Rebecca Kirshenbaum

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