Mistakes Were Made

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“Timmy is a detective who can take any mystery and make it more mysterious.”

Stephan Pastis

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I’ve been a big fan of the comic Pearls Before Swine since it’s inception in 1999.
Back then, you could mail a letter to the creator, Stephan Pastis, and he would mail you back a drawing:

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After he made it big, I stood in line for 3 hours to meet him and get this signed:

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Being a big fan, when Pastis started writing books for children I picked up the first one and read it. (Yes, I’m a grown ass woman.) It’s turned out to be one of those books I can’t keep a copy of in my house because I keep giving it away.

I haven’t read the book in a while, but you know how the proverbial ‘they’ always say you won’t remember what someone said to you but you will always remember how they made you feel? Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made magically makes the kid in you feel like everything is going to be OK. 

Timmy’s a weird kid; there no way around it. He’s pedantic and selfish. He doesn’t consider how his actions might hurt other people. He’s obsessed with greatness.

He was traumatized by the departure of his father and is being raised by a single mom. When little Timmy’s dad ran off, his imaginary friend Total (Total Failure, get it?) showed up to keep him company.

Timmy and Total tool around town in the Failure Mobile, solving ‘crimes’ and being concerned about ‘the Russians’. Lessons are learned, personal growth is achieved.
The book is a great gift for the young readers in your life. The movie adaptation (on Disney+) is cute enough for the kids and clever enough for Mom and Dad to not want to tear their hair out. A-

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