Mistakes that Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be Kindle Edition

Very interesting and easy to read

Perfect condition.

My son loves it! Came quicker than expected!!

As an 11 year old, I thought this book would be boring when grandma checked it out. It actually caught me off guard and surprised me because it was interesting.

We got this from the library in November and my ten-year-Old daughter loved it! She’s always very fascinated with history, science and engineering, so a book about interesting inventions was just up her alley. My parents visited us during the time we had it and while we were visiting she became quite engrossed in this book. Then when it was time to give it back to the library my daughter told me she wanted a copy of her own. I told her I would put it on her wish list, but I actually forgot until I was shopping for some Christmas gifts for a cousin drawing and while buying a book for someone else Amazon said that the book and a selection of others were on a special temporary discount, so I clicked on the link to see what other books were on sale and wouldn’t you know? Mistakes That Worked was one of the books they were promoting! I was so excited, but not as excited as my daughter when she opened it up on Christmas morning! This is a paperback copy instead of a hardbound one like the library had, but it’s a newer edition so my daughter says it’s even better. I honestly only got to read snippets of it myself but I am intrigued and need to find a minute to sit down and read the whole thing. I highly recommend this book!

My son is in Kindergarten and he is a factoid enthusiast. His reading abilities aren't up to his curiosity level yet but he's getting there. Like many kids, he gets frustrated and needs help remembering how resilient he is and that challenges, even mistakes, are a good thing. This book has delivered that message with very short chapters (we do 3-4 per bedtime session) and the abstract concepts are pretty well translated into more digestible pieces for even young kids. For example, in the chapter on chocolate chip cookies, the author notes several historical figures my kindergartener already knows who never got to eat them because they lived before they were invented. Plotting out the timeline of history and provided context to young kids is a challenge, and this book helped make it clear so that the inventions could be appreciated and contextualized. Plus, the facts were really interesting! We love that actual recipes are included in the book, which makes it interactive as well.

I can't count how many times my son (now 14) has referred to this book in everyday conversation. He first read it when he was nine, but still gives us the whole back story anytime something comes up that reminds him of one of the mistakes that led to discovery. I'm sure these stories will stick with him for a lifetime!

Bought this for our Grandpa for Christmas. He loves to read and especially enjoys fun facts. He went through the entire book in a week and shared it with his friends at the retirement home. He said to let him know if I come across more like this and he'll gladly reimburse me for them as he is now the king of fun facts at his retirement home!