Facing Mighty Fears About Making Mistakes

by Dawn Huebner, Liza Stevens (Illustrator)

Many children avoid taking on challenges, melting down when the going gets tough. But doing things you aren't very good at is one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy and strong. That means it's okay to mess up, and fumble, and fail. In fact, you should do these things. Mistakes are exactly what your brain needs to grow. Facing Mighty Fears About Making Mistakes helps 6-10-year-olds get more comfortable with imperfection. Fun Facts about famous mistakes engage children, while a Note to Parents and Caregivers and supplemental Resource Section make this the perfect guide for parents and mental health professionals.


This book is part of the Dr. Dawn's Mini Books About Mighty Fears series designed to help children ages 6-10 tackle their fears and live happier lives.

Genres: Parenting

80 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2023

About the author

Dawn Huebner, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist and Parent Coach specializing in childhood anxiety. She is the author of 20 books for children (and one for therapists), including bestsellers What to Do When You Worry Too Much and Outsmarting Worry.

Dr. Huebner recognized the need for lively, easy-to-read take-home materials to help children practice the strategies they were learning in her office. She created a format effective for 6-12-year olds – the What to Do Guides for Kids - teaching complex psychological concepts using metaphors, language, and humor easily understood by children. Subsequent books maintain her distinctive voice while adding a layer of detail and sophistication appreciated by older children and teens.

All of Dr. Huebner’s books echo her philosophy - that children can and should be taught to help themselves, and that they are capable of overcoming even stuck-seeming challenges.
Dr. Huebner’s books sell briskly around the world, and have been translated into 23 languages. She has been featured on the TODAY Show, CNN.com, WebMD and many other news and information outlets, and is frequently interviewed by popular parenting magazines. Dr. Huebner’s TEDx talk on Rethinking Anxiety has been viewed over a million times.

Dr. Huebner enjoys hearing from readers. She is always at work on her next book...

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Facing Mighty Fears about Making Mistakes is another book in the series by Dawn Huebner. In this book, the topic focuses on fears from making mistakes. The book starts by explaining how our brains work the goes on to explain about anxiety and fears in a way that children understand and can relate to. I loved the fun facts across each section, which were interesting and relatable for kids at times, too, and helped make the book feel less rigid. The breathing exercises are very useful and easy to do, and the steps to follow in regards to anxiety and worry were simple to understand and follow too. The back of the book has more information for parents/carers and also a link to access several videos to help support you and your child, too.

[Shilo Quetchenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another great installment of the Mighty Fears books. We love Dawn Huebner's books in our house - kiddo (9) really relates to them and finds them helpful.

This one starts out with a section about the brain and how it works and how exactly new pathways get made and cemented. Kiddo was very into this section, as he is very interested in the brain and how it works.

Kiddo isn't crippled by a fear of mistakes like some kids can be, but he definitely struggles with it and listened very intently as we read through the book. He practiced the various forms of breathing exercises and picked out a word to use when he makes a mistake when prompted by the text.

There are many fun facts about people making mistakes and requiring many tries before getting a new invention right. These do break up the text a little bit and maybe reduce the impact of it. Next time I think I'll read through it first and then read the fun facts separately.

The steps outlined here are very simple, which makes them easy to remember and hopefully would be in the moment. I can definitely see how they could be very helpful for anyone who struggles with a fear of mistakes. I get defensive when someone points out a mistake or a criticism so I may try to follow the steps as well.

The text also employs humor well to keep kids engaged. We read the entire thing in one night as a bedtime story and will likely read it several more times in the upcoming weeks.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing an early copy for review.

[Amy Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Facing Mighty Fears about Making Mistakes with my 7 year old and while we were able to take a couple of things from it, it was hard to follow in the Kindle format. My husband listened to part of it and pointed out that Michael Jordan wasn’t kicked off the basketball team, he just didn’t make the varsity team his freshman year. I was hoping this book would help my daughter with her anxiety about being wrong but it missed the mark for her.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy, no-nonsense approach to tackling the anxiety-inducing problem of making mistakes. This book serves as a perfect guide for children and adults to work through the complex emotions of trying new things and learning to value a growth mindset. Psychology terms are explained in simple terms that make it easier to breach topics that might stress out young ones. This title is best suited for children through the elementary grades (K-6) and their care givers. Simple illustrations make the book attractive to young readers and serve to offer examples to guide discussion around open-ended questions of the book. Fun facts are peppered throughout that highlight famous individuals who succeeded by fostering a growth mindset and persevering. A perfect addition for classroom or personal libraries.

[Gary Strieter · Rating 5 out of 5]

helped a PhD student

This book real helped me to believe in myself and gave concrete approaches to practice how to deal with the reactions when mistakes happened. I have to fix the detection device for my research all the time. It breaks quite often but I realize being pouty does not work. I had to address the disappointment and calmly solve it. It is part of my research journey that will make me a better scientist!

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It used clear, kid-friendly language to explain how we all learn through practice and by making mistakes. The format is like a slim illustrated chapter book. Most pages include fun facts about real people. It also gives four steps to use when a mistake or failure is tempting you to freak out or blame someone or cry and give up. Step #4? Practice making mistakes! Also contains four pages of guidance for parents plus five pages of additional resources.

[Ravenclaw Library Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a humorous read that keeps you engaged in the text. I found the section on the brain quite interesting and also as an adult theye were some things that really resonated with me especially that I still fear making mistakes or messing up.

I found this eArc to be hard to follow but did preserve and finished.

I would recommend this to people of all ages.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for kids age 5+ and parents. I wish it were in color, but it's a quick read and heavily illustrated.