“The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes” by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein. Illustrated by Mark Pett.
Found this treasure at the Marion Carnegie library last week. It’s the loveliest story about a wonderful little girl named Beatrice who has her stuff together. She does everything perfectly. In fact, most people in town don’t even know Beatrice’s name–they just call her “the Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes.” As long as she can remember, she’s never made a mistake.
Her little brother, Carl, on the other hand, eats his crayons and draws with his green beans. He dances with his hands and plays the piano with his feet. He has fun! Beatrice’s perfect little life was without error, but it kept her from really living due to the fear of making a mistake.
Until the day of the big talent show (which she has won for the past 3 years in a row)…that’s when everything changes. For the first time in as long as anyone can remember, Beatrice makes a mistake. The music stops, Beatrice doesn’t know what to do–cry? run off the stage? Instead she giggles…and pretty soon the audience roars with laughter too.
That night, Beatrice slept better than she ever had. The next morning she puts a polka dot sock on one foot and a plaid sock on the other, for no reason at all! She and her brother eat an “inside out PB&J sandwich” which is both messy and delicious. She goes ice skating with her friends and falls down a lot, laughing the whole time.
Now people no longer call her the Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes. They just call her Beatrice.
Love. Love. Love this book. 🙂