Book Review: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephen Pastis

By Shala Howell, August 13, 2021

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Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephen Pastis

Book Summary: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

“Take Timmy Failure–the clueless, comically self-confident CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the nation. Add his impressively lazy business partner, a very large polar bear named Total, and what you have is Total Failure, Inc. From the offbeat creator of Pearls Before Swine comes an endearingly bumbling hero in a hilarious caper accompanied by a whodunit twist. With perfectly paced visual humor, Stephan Pastis gets readers snorting with laughter, then slyly carries the joke a beat further–or sweetens it with an unexpected poignant moment–making this a comics-inspired story that truly stands apart from the pack.”

From the book description on Bookshop.org

My Review: ☕️☕️☕️

Like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney and the Captain Underpants series from Dav Pilkey, this book makes effective use of frequent, humorous illustrations to create an accessible reading experience that bridges the gap between picture books and chapter books for readers still building their confidence.

And while there are times when the only option is to roll your eyes, there are also genuinely funny moments. As well as some surprisingly poignant ones, such as when Timmy matter of factly explains that it’s important for his detective agency to succeed so that he can help his financially strapped mom pay the bills.

This excerpt from the Timmy Failure website does a much better job of conveying the experience of reading these books than I can do with words alone.

So why only three teacups?

There are many things to love about this book, but the way Timmy treats his friends is not one of them. He’s frequently cruel in speaking to and about them. So if your child does dive into these books, it may be worth reading at least one along with them, so that you can have a conversation about more effective and kinder ways of dealing with their sometimes annoying but otherwise likable friends.

What about you?

What have you been reading lately?

Related Links:

• What’s the Eight-Year-Old Reading this Week (Caterpickles)

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