Beautiful Oops!

by Barney Saltzberg

Overview

A life lesson that all parents want their children to learn: It’s OK to make a mistake. In fact, hooray for mistakes! A mistake is an adventure in creativity, a portal of discovery. A spill doesn’t ruin a drawing—not when it becomes the shape of a goofy animal. And an accidental tear in your paper? Don’t be upset about it when you can turn it into the roaring mouth of an alligator.

An award winning, best-selling, one-of-a-kind interactive book, Beautiful Oops! shows young readers how every mistake is an opportunity to make something beautiful. A singular work of imagination, creativity, and paper engineering, Beautiful Oops! is filled with pop-ups, lift-the-flaps, tears, holes, overlays, bends, smudges, and even an accordion “telescope”—each demonstrating the magical transformation from blunder to wonder.






 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761157281
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication date:	09/23/2010
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 6.80(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	AD40L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 11 Years

About the Author

Barney Saltzberg is the author of more than 30 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, My Book of Beautiful Oops!, Good Egg and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series. Additionally, he’s recorded four albums of songs for children. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two dogs, and a pond full of fish.

Editorial Reviews

A celebration of creative thinking, Saltzberg's small-format book encourages readers to view mistakes not as failures but opportunities. To wit, "A torn piece of paper..." (the cardboard page is actually torn) "is just the beginning": the beginning of a smile for an alligator. Various spills and blobs are transformed into animals, a crumpled piece of paper becomes wool for a sheep, and in the book's standout scene, a panel with a hole in the center telescopes outward, accordion-style, to reveal a tiny creature way at the bottom. Inspirational without being saccharine, this has gifty crossover potential. Ages 3–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A pleasingly tactile exploration of the possibilities inherent in mistakes. "A torn piece of paper... is just the beginning!" Spills, folded paper, drips of paint, smudges and smears—they "all can make magic appear." An increasingly complex series of scenarios celebrates random accidents, encouraging artistic experimentation rather than discouragement. The folded-over paper can be a penguin's head; a torn piece of newsprint can turn into a smiling dog with a little application of paint; a hot-chocolate stain can become a bog for a frog. Thanks to a telescoping pop-up, a hole is filled with nearly limitless possibilities. The interactive elements work beautifully with the photo-collaged "mistakes," never overwhelming the intent with showiness. Saltzberg's trademark cartoon animals provide a sweetly childlike counterpoint to the artful scribbles and smears of gloppy paint. A festive invitation to creative liberation. - Kirkus Reviews

“Clumsy kids will appreciate Barney Saltzberg’s imaginative book, which shows how mistakes (spills, tears, stains) can turn into something wonderful.” - Parents Magazine
 

A pleasingly tactile exploration of the possibilities inherent in mistakes. "A torn piece of paper... is just the beginning!" Spills, folded paper, drips of paint, smudges and smears—they "all can make magic appear." An increasingly complex series of scenarios celebrates random accidents, encouraging artistic experimentation rather than discouragement. The folded-over paper can be a penguin's head; a torn piece of newsprint can turn into a smiling dog with a little application of paint; a hot-chocolate stain can become a bog for a frog. Thanks to a telescoping pop-up, a hole is filled with nearly limitless possibilities. The interactive elements work beautifully with the photo-collaged "mistakes," never overwhelming the intent with showiness. Saltzberg's trademark cartoon animals provide a sweetly childlike counterpoint to the artful scribbles and smears of gloppy paint. A festive invitation to creative liberation. - Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

The title may almost seem like an oxymoron; however, a theme of this story is creativity. Take a mistake as an opportunity to use your imagination. Sometimes paper is torn, paint is spilled, or paper is bent. A person could get upset; however, a better choice is to take a moment and think of it as an opportunity to make that tear, spill or fold into a piece of art. Use your creativity and imagination to change that tear into the mouth of an alligator. How about transforming the drop of paint into the wheels of a sports car? The ideas are limitless. Saltzberg shares his creations throughout the book. While reading, turn pages and flip the flaps to see how he changed a smear into a fish, a wad of paper into a lamb, and more. What starts as an "oops" can turn into something fabulous. The book is a nice addition to a creative arts collection, as it provides inspiration for changing an "oops" into a beautiful creation. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung

Children's Literature - Carrie Hane Hung

A pleasingly tactile exploration of the possibilities inherent in mistakes. "A torn piece of paper... / is just the beginning!" Spills, folded paper, drips of paint, smudges and smears—they "all can make magic appear." An increasingly complex series of scenarios celebrates random accidents, encouraging artistic experimentation rather than discouragement. The folded-over paper can be a penguin's head; a torn piece of newsprint can turn into a smiling dog with a little application of paint; a hot-chocolate stain can become a bog for a frog. Thanks to a telescoping pop-up, a hole is filled with nearly limitless possibilities. The interactive elements work beautifully with the photo-collaged "mistakes," never overwhelming the intent with showiness. Saltzberg's trademark cartoon animals provide a sweetly childlike counterpoint to the artful scribbles and smears of gloppy paint. A festive invitation to creative liberation. (Pop-up. 4-12)

Kirkus Reviews