π 11 books
Books for children who compare themselves to others
"Hers is better than mine." "Everyone else can already do it." Comparing is natural, and children do a lot of it, especially once they start school. The trouble is they nearly always compare their inside to someone else's outside.
These stories celebrate doing it your own way, growing at your own speed, and the fact that there's room for everyone's version. They're good for the child who's stopped enjoying something because someone else seems better at it.
For the kids π¨

You Are Awesome
Matthew Syed
The growth-mindset book for older kids: effort beats talent, every time.
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The Big Race
David Barrow
A heart-warming race story about having fun rather than just trying to win.
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You Choose
Pippa Goodhart
An imaginative, no-wrong-answers book for sparking conversation and decision-making.
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Step-By-Step: Drawing People
Fiona Watt
Shows kids that drawing well is a skill you build step by step, not a talent you're born with.
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What If Everybody Did That?
Ellen Javernick
A simple, funny look at why small choices matter when everyone's watching.
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Almost Anything
Sophy Henn
For the child who's too scared to try something new in front of their mates.
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Aaron Slater, Illustrator
Andrea Beaty
For kids who feel behind β because practice, not talent, is what gets you there.
Buy on Hive βYou've Got This, Little Pangolin
Tola Okogwu
For the child who wants to be brilliant at it NOW, and won't be shown how.
Buy on Hive βThe Great Paint
Alex Willmore
One very funny frog who paints for the joy of it, then owns it when he messes up.
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The Wobblysaurus
Rachel Bright
She wibbles, she wobbles, she falls. Grannysaurus: it's a journey, not a race.
Buy on Hive βThree things to try alongside the books
- Compare them with themselves: "Look how much this has changed since September."
- Point out that everyone's at a different page of their own story.
- Enjoy other people's work together without ranking it.
More on the thinking behind these in what is growth mindset?
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