Student Life

Top Growth Mindset Books for Kids

These delightfully interesting, engaging and illustrated books for kids may not be specifically written from a growth mindset standpoint but they definitely bring home the key aspects of this way of thought and help children absorb it better.

  1. The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires - This delightfully illustrated book tells the story about a little girl and her very best friend and her idea of building yes, “the most magnificent thing”! She’s excited and she knows what it will look like and she thinks it will be easy, but she fails, again and again. She fails so much that she gets really angry and walks away. Soon she goes for a walk with her dog and then, comes back to building her magnificent thing with renewed enthusiasm and fresh energy. Voila, she gets it right! The book highlights the importance of being creative and persevering, of stepping back and returning with a fresh set of eyes and energy.
  2. Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak and Sarah Ackerley - A delightfully illustrated book to help children understand how their brain is structured, what functions it performs and then, most importantly, how they can stretch and grow their brains. The language is fun and easy enough for even young kids to follow along
  3. Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg - A charming and interactive book that teaches children an important lesson; that of making mistakes and seeing the adventure and creativity in them rather than being frustrated and disappointed in ourselves. Filled with pop-ups, flaps, holes, tears and more, this book is a wonderful way to encourage children to be creative without the fear of messing things up!
  4. Someday by Ellen Spinelli - This wonderful book is the story of Goldie, a little girl who dreams of being a famous artist, an animal scientist, an archeologist and so much more. Each page alternates with “Someday” and present day and helps her hone the skills she needs to make those goals happen. Children will learn to appreciate the everyday learning opportunities that all contribute to making their “someday” goals happen.