It's Not My Fault!

by Jory John, Jared Chapman (Illustrations)

The New York Times bestselling author of The Bad Seed and The Good Egg takes a lighthearted approach to how to respond to the all-too-common claim IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

Emotional literacy is embeded in this funny cautionary tale:

Why is your homework so messy?
It's not my fault! I blame my pen.
Why can't I read these test answers?
I blame my pen.
Why is your assignment so late?
Um...I blame my pen?

A boy steadfastly refuses to take responsibility for any of his mistakes. He just blames everything that goes wrong on his pen, his backpack, his comb, his pillow--whatever item happens to be at hand. For awhile, this approach works at home and at school. He's positively convinced he has it all figured out until . . . all the inanimate objects rise up and revolt. What can he do when a talking pen and talking backpack decide to rebel?

#1 New York Times bestselling picture book author Jory John encourages kids to accept responsibility and delivers messages about emotional literacy while keeping the laughs coming in this fun-filled cautionary tale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Juvenile, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

Published June 9, 2020

About the author

Jory John is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and two-time E.B. White Read-Aloud Honor recipient.

Jory's work includes the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book, The Good Egg, and the #2 New York Times bestselling picture book, The Bad Seed, both illustrated by Pete Oswald. He is also the author of the popular picture books, Penguin Problems and Giraffe Problems, both illustrated by Lane Smith, the award-winning Goodnight Already! series, illustrated by Benji Davies, the New York Times bestselling Terrible Two series, the recent picture books Quit Calling Me a Monster! (with Bob Shea), Can Somebody Please Scratch My Back? (with Liz Climo), and the international bestseller, All my friends are dead, among many other books for both children and adults.

Reviews

[Abby Johnson]

Hmm. I'm normally a fan of Jory John, but I think this may be a rare misstep. It reads like a parent who got so fed up with his kid making excuses and not taking responsibility that he wrote a book about it. A book that's really a lecture. And while it has a funny premise - the objects that the kid keeps blaming are getting fed up and angry - there's no real payoff. Pass.

[Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

The lecturing from the pen did not fit the tone that was established. Too pedantic. Is that the right word? And then the final page? No thank you.

[Essareh · Rating 3 out of 5]

بین کتابای جان جوری، اینو کمتر دوست دارم.
ترجمهٔ سیده هستی حسینی

[Nickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What? Not my typical John Jory children's story. It is full of anger. I get it that kids go through a phase of not taking any responsibility for their actions. I don't know many who blamed it on objects. Usually a classmate or sibling (not the case for this story). Until the pen wakes the kid up in the middle of the night (every kid's dream/nightmare that their toys are real) and lectures him in huge hard to swallow Paragraphs. This issue should have been addressed differently with the story making the jumping-off point for the topic of conversation between parent and child. Instead, it reads like a threat.

Also, who in their right mind gives a Kindergarten age child PENS?!

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when a person doesn't take responsibility for any of their faults and shortcomings? Everyone knows someone like the kid from this book!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Day in and day out, a boy blames everything he does (or doesn't) do on the things around him-- his pen, his backpack, his shoes... but those items? They are fed up with the accusations! At bedtime, these offended objects sit down with him and lay it all out-- it's time to be responsible. Not only is this delightfully funny, but it's a lesson for all of us to learn-- at ANY age, even grownups. Jory John's books are exceptional, and this is another top notch tale.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too bad this little kid really doesn't learn to not blame all the things in life for the problems he encounters.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Hello. It is I, your trusty pen. I am here with an important message.”

A boy never takes responsiblity for his actions, blaming his sloppy handwriting on his pen and his messy hair on his comb. He puts the finger on his backpack for his missing homework and his shoes for all the muddy footprints on the carpet. Finally, all of these innocent objects have had enough and pen speaks up for them. “If you continue to blame everything around you for all the things you do, we won’t want to be your friend anymore.”

A comical way to handle a serious message. Would be a great way to introduce the Universal Construct of Productivity and Accountability.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, unlike others, I really loved this book. As an honest, direct communicator, I really appreciated Pen's no nonsense, smack down conversation with the bratty kid. But I'm also a huge fan of taking directly with children. Adults are obsessed with either hiding information from children or fluffing it up so much that it loses its meaning or purpose. Children are much smarter than adults give them credit for and having real world conversations with them is a must. So I appreciate this book shows just how much hurt and anger you can cause others for blaming them for everything. There are even plenty of adults who could learn from this book.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure about this one. There are some huge chunks of text that would challenge a child for attention span with a parent reading or Lexile for kids reading on their own. The message was so so, with a child coming to understand that he needs to take more responsibility for his actions. For me, this seems a little underdeveloped. Kids might come to blame themselves too often when there are factors outside their control. They also don't get much of a sense of how to avoid some of the mistakes or come to terms with them.

[Virginia Hertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in a house full of boys that are always blaming other people for their problems. One time, my son actually peed his pants and said his brother did it. I don't think it can get much worse than that!!! This book explores the ways we can blame others and how that makes them feel. It also helps the boy to start taking responsibility for his own actions.

Would recommend this book for any age, to help people realize how silly blaming others is and start taking responsibility for themselves now!

[Karen Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm saying this about a Jory John book (he's one of my favorite authors), but this book is closer to a 2 1/2* than 3.

It's about a kid who messes up and blames everything but himself. That happens a lot, of course, until we teach kids a better way. In this book the kid then dreams that everyone gets mad and tells him off. So, he begins to accept responsibility, but is only partially able to. That's realistic actually, rarely do kids (or adults for that matter) get an epiphany and totally change immediately, but I still didn't much care for it.

[Suebee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually a fan of Jory John (Goodnight Already series), but this one wasn't great for me. The kid blames his shoes for mud on the walls, his pen for messy homework, etc. Until one night his pen comes alive and talks to him, launching into a tirade about taking responsibility. He learns his lesson...until the last page when he says "This day was weird. Not my fault!" Negating the message of the book.

Illustrations were perfect, but unfortunately the text wasn't.

[Joey Gremillion · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine being a child, reading a book that tells you that, YOU, a boy are prone to being "messpots": irresponsible, messy, constantly late, etc. Why is it so wrong to stereotype "girl culture" yet it is acceptable to stereotype "boy culture". What pisses me off is that the author is a guy (Jory John), perpetuating unfair stereotypes. The illustrations are SUPERB and very appealing. I just hope that they don't lure readers into this travesty.

[Michelle]

I love Jory John. Penguin Problems is one of those books I read to kids because I AM the one who needs the message. The Bad Seed is arguably one of the best self-help books written. But this one -- it could be the goofy, uninspired illustrations, the similarity to Penguin & Giraffe Problems in style, or just that I didn't get much sleep last night -- it's not working for me. I don't have empathy for the characters.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A child blames everything else and takes no responsibility for his actions. Humor on each page spread as readers see the objects react with anger after being blamed. The pen finally takes action and lectures him about accepting responsibility. Humorous twist at the end after the boy tells his teacher it is his responsibility. Readers see the pen and he switch places.
Not up to John's usual standards with the long lectures from the pen but will be a discussion starter as a read aloud.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts out strong and has great visuals. However, the overly-long monologue followed by the fact that the main character only pays lip-service to learning his lesson make this one fall flat. I already purchased it for my school library, so I am seriously considering just reading the first half and then assigning the students to write the ending. I predict some versions may be better than the published ending.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wordy book that will definitely improve vocabulary, but kids might have trouble reading it themselves. Good message about taking personal responsibility and not blaming everything but yourself when you mess up. Kids will no doubt chuckle at the full-page illustrations of the angry pen, backpack, and shoes who get blamed unfairly.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A crayon who is tired of always being blamed gives a child a speech about being more responsible and taking the blame for his own actions. But even a crayon can get tired of that...

I liked this a lot, although it may have been better if a lesson was learned. The ending kind of negated the whole point.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this is quite the story. Loads of personification! It’s hard for me to put this in an age category... at first I thought 1-2nd grade, but then the pen goes on a HUGE rant that would possibly be too many words on a page for that attention span. The moral of the story is kind of good? But it’s a little hazy IMO. Overall, a funny and random book.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE this concept. And it's ABOUT TIME inanimate objects starting standing up for themselves. That kid was annoying. I'm glad he learned his lesson. It's an important lesson for all of us--except, what if we stopped blaming things altogether? Including ourselves? Accepting responsibility for our actions is different from blame, but this story is definitely on the right track :).

[Mrs Heidrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
I do normally love Jory John books, but this one just didn't hit for me. Some of the pages were very text heavy and might be a lot for some younger kids. I think this is an important topic, but I'm not sure it got there in the end as he's still not really taking responsibility. And when he apologizes, I'm not sure how sincere that came off.

[Dana Storytime Account · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book hits a topic that I think kids need to understand, but the pen does it in such an angry way that it doesn't hit right for me, it feels too aggressive and angry for a kids book and I wish the subject could have been touched upon in a better way?

[Jj · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of rage going on here, and I am thinking it might not necessarily be rage directed at a child, but perhaps at another adult. It is one of the rare books I would want to send back for a full refund if I had paid for it.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A child constantly blames the inanimate objects in his life for mistakes and bad behavior. One night, his pen comes to him in a dream and tells him that he needs to take responsibility for his own actions.

A bit over-the-top but a good book if a lesson needs to be taught.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The boy in this story places the blame on everything but himself. His pen, the moon, his toothbrush, his bedding, and his backpack. Then the boy changes his tune. It seems unrealistic and by the end everything seems angry. I like so many of Jory John's books but I don't recommend this one.

[Andrea Colwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It has a great lesson of how we need to take responsibility for our actions. It also leads to a great discussion of how there are things in life that we can control, and things that are not in our control. My kids absolutely loved it!

[Ronda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one until the ink mishap at the end, and the odd "we give up" business. I mean, do I want to be spoonfed a lesson? No. But this one, kind of lime Cat Problems, just left me.feeling a bit icky.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked this. I think that all politicians should have to read this 😆. A boy blames literally everything he does wrong on something else, but one night his pen starts talking to him, and he's got a lot to say... a good book on being accountable for yourself!

[Andréa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I received an F&G at ALA Midwinter 2020.