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Growth Mindset

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Best Children’s Books About Growth Mindset

The term ‘growth mindset’ has seen a recent trend in education, but the principles behind it are ones that many parents and teachers have tried to cultivate in children for years. We’ve put together a list of recommended books to promote a growth mindset among primary school children. 

Teaching children to embrace new challenges, learn positively from mistakes, persevere with difficult tasks and develop resilience in learning are all key parts of having a growth mindset. From stories about never giving up like Tilda Tries Again and Yes You Can, Cow! to books about embracing mistakes as opportunities like Beautiful Oops! and Rosie Revere, Engineer, this booklist features some of the best children’s books for promoting a growth mindset in young learners.

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Books about trying new challenges

Rikin Parekh
Picturebook
Riku's family have all achieved something special - and Riku wants to be special too. His dream? To be the world's first ever flying tiger!Only Riku's friend Jim has doubts . . . Tigers don't have wings. (And Jim should know - he's a parrot!) But Riku is one determined little tiger. With help from Jim and some feathered friends, will Riku make it off the ground and into the air?This hilariously funny book from Rikin Parekh celebrates dreams, determination and the power of friendship. It's a must-read for any little person with BIG ambition!
Rashmi Sirdeshpande
 & Rikin Parekh
Picturebook
Yes, you can, Cow! We believe in you! READY . . . STEADY . . . GO . . .It's the Nursery Rhyme's big performance, but Cow is having second thoughts. She's too scared to jump! What if she crashes? Will everyone laugh?The curtain's almost up and the audience are waiting. Can Cow overcome her fear of failure and become the star of the show?A gorgeous, heartwarming story about believing in yourself and doing your best based on the ever-popular nursery rhyme 'Hey Diddle Diddle'.
Rachel Bright
 & Jim Field
Picturebook
A funny rhyming story about dealing with change and overcoming worries, from the bestselling creators of The Lion Inside.In a wonderful place, at the breaking of dawn, where the breezes were soft and the sunshine was warm, a place where the creatures ran wild and played free ... A Koala called Kevin clung to a tree.Meet Kevin. A koala who likes to keep things the same. Exactly the same. But sometimes change comes along whether we like it or not... And, as Kevin discovers, if you step outside your comfort zone and try new things, you might just surprise yourself!
Sophy Henn
Picturebook

This is a truly charming picture book with an empowering message about the power of self-belief, perfect for EYFS and KS1. At the beginning of the story, George the rabbit sits on a tree stump watching his woodland friends busy doing all sorts of clever and fun activities like painting, roller-skating, knitting and dancing. Believing that he can’t do anything like that, George leaves himself with no option but to sit and watch. That is, until a wise old bear observes George’s no-can-do attitude and decides to help him to cultivate some important self-belief.

This is an endearing picture book that encourages young readers to have the confidence to try new things using the ‘magic’ of a positive attitude from within themselves.

Peter H. Reynolds
Picturebook
The story of a little girl whose art teacher helps her to develop a 'can do' attitude. Vashti is sure that she can't draw, but when the teacher puts Vashti's simple dot picture on display, Vashti begins to think of what else she might be able to draw too if she is only willing to give it a try.

Books about resilience

Gaia Cornwall
Picturebook
Jabari is inventing a machine that will fly all the way across the yard! But making it go from CRASH to WHOOSH will take grit, patience, and maybe even a little help from his sister. Jabari is making a flying machine in his backyard! "It'll be easy. I don't need any help," he declares. But it doesn't work! Jabari is frustrated. Good thing Dad is there for a pep talk and his little sister, Nika, is there to assist, fairy wings and all. With the endearing father-child dynamic of Jabari Jumps and engaging mixed-media illustrations, Gaia Cornwall's tale shows that through perseverance and flexibility, an inventive thought can become a brilliant reality.
Tom Percival
Picturebook

In Tilda Tries Again, Tom Percival once again displays his trademark style of using fantasy situations to explore real-life feelings.

We have all heard the phrase ‘to turn someone’s world upside down’. In this book, this is what literally and metaphorically happens to Tilda. At the beginning of the story, we meet a typical young girl who loves to do things that young children do. She has a happy life spending time with her friends, books and toys in and around her family home. Then one day, for no particular reason, everything turns upside down. Suddenly, Tilda can’t accomplish everyday tasks anymore- she can’t reach any thing or work anything out and happiness escapes her. Even spending time with her friends seems impossible and Tilda withdraws from her world .

Just when it seems that Tilda is destined to remain in this topsy-turvy state, she meets a ladybird who has itself been turned upside down. The reader joins Tilda in watching the ladybird (a source of such joy when found by little children) as it refuses to resign itself to its situation and repeatedly tries to set itself the right way up- until it succeeds. Inspired by the tenacity of the tiny creature, Tilda decides to try again and -little by little- she conquers the upside down situation that she believed herself to be stuck in and manages to turn things the right way up again. This book gives an excellent way in to discussions about mental-health topics such as low-mood and anxiety and also the power of not giving up.

Dan Santat
Graphic Novel
We've all heard about Humpty Dumpty's catastrophic fall, but what about how he got back up again? In this humorous picture book, Humpty Dumpty recounts his brave and arduous journey back up to the top of the wall again. We like the way in which this cleverly illustrated story acknowledges that things go wrong sometimes but that it can be our individual response to such misfortunate that often harvests resilience and hatches us into something stronger than ever before.
Emma Chichester Clark
Picturebook

This is a story that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the feeling that the learning journey seems impossible. When George the Bear finds a book, he picks it up and longs to learn how to read it. But others quickly tell George how silly he is because ‘bears don’t read’. George will need a great deal of determination, resilience and a little help from a kind friend in order to overcome all the obstacles on the path to success.

Susie Brooks
 & Cally Johnson-Isaacs
Picturebook

I Try is an engaging book focusing on developing resilience and perseverance in younger children. Each page introduces a character trying something new or wanting to get better at something – for example being braver, more curious or dealing with strong emotions. As well as introducing a range of characters, each page gives examples linked to animals which will appeal to younger readers. Susie Brooks cleverly provides questions on each page to discuss with the readers and link to their own personal experiences before finishing the book with a motivational and advice-packed page that will be accessible for all children to understand. The illustrations by Cally Johnson-Isaacs complement the story perfectly and add an extra layer to discussions that can be had with the children. Each page has a real scenario and children will be able to relate to what is happening at the same time as appreciating the animal illustrations and extra detail. This is the perfect book to use with EYFS and KS1 children to help develop resilience using a range of different examples and strategies to support them.


Books about learning from mistakes

Ashley Spires
Picturebook

This encouraging picture book tells the story of a girl who works hard to invent a ‘magnificent thing’, tweaking and shaping her work as she tries to create something amazing. But when she fails to make her invention quite as magnificent as she had hoped, the girl becomes increasingly frustrated until she explodes in rage, declaring that she is “no good at this” and deciding to quit. Fortunately the girl’s canine assistant helps her to process her frustration and begin to see how she can turn her disappointment into renewed enthusiasm for improving the invention. This is a popular story that encapsulates a very familiar aspect of the learning experience.

Barney Salzberg
Picturebook
We love this engaging picture book, filled with interactive pop-ups and flaps. The story is about the tapping into the potential of things that appear to be mistakes, showing how torn paper or spilt paint can be approached with a positive attitude when you know that mistakes can be transformed to become something beautiful. We highly recommend this book for all primary classrooms!
Andrea Beaty
 & David Roberts
Picturebook

We love this story featuring a girl called Rosie who has a passion for inventing and a dream of becoming a famous engineer. Along the way Rosie must learn how to respond to mistakes. When one of her inventions crashes to the ground, Rosie must choose between giving up on her dreams or listening to her Great-Great-Aunt’s wise advice about embracing mistakes positively and using them to learn something new.

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