We love the book “Ish” by Peter Reynolds. It’s about a young boy, Ramon, who loves to draw. But when a comment from his brother knocks his confidence, he gets frustrated and gives up. Fortunately, his younger sister sees his drawings differently. She has a whole gallery of his crumpled drawings on display in her room! He realizes that while his drawing might not look just like a vase, it definitely looks vase-ish. And turns out, ish is good!

 

This is a great book to read with kids. Have them discuss things that they might not be good at yet, but they’re good-ish. You can share something like, “I’m not good at piano yet. But I can play a few simple songs. I’m good-ish. If I keep practicing, I can get better. What about you?”

 

Remind kids that we might not get things right the first time, but we definitely shouldn’t give up. Look at all of the beautiful drawings Ramon made after he was planning to give up! Can you imagine all of the art that wouldn’t have been made if he had just stopped when he got frustrated? Do you think other artists have ever experienced frustration? Good thing they kept trying!