The Most Magnificent Thing is a great picture book for children that encourages them to see the value in failure. It's not very long, but it manages to express a lot in the space it has, plus the illustrations are cute.

It's the story of a girl who wants to build something magnificent. She knows how she wants it to turn out, but none of her attempts produce the result that she's looking for. She gets frustrated, and her dog (who is also her best friend) suggests going for a walk. When she gets back, the girl is more focused, and manages to see that all of her failures had some redeeming qualities in them, which helps her to make her truly magnificent thing.

This story can give an especially helpful perspective to those who are perfectionists, but there is probably something here for all of us.

Scrounged From: Amazon (a birthday present for our two-year-old)

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Ashley Spires
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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