The Biggest Mistake

by Camilla Pintonato

Overview

The Children’s Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year List - Under Five (2024)

A perfect storytime pick about success, failure, and the danger of assumptions.  

“It’s time to catch your own gazelle,” Papa Lion tells his little lion one morning. The cub thinks the task will be easy—which is his first mistake. He leaps on a gazelle, but it gets away from him. So the little lion laces up his sneakers, thinking he just has to outrun the gazelle—and makes his second mistake. Once again, his prey escapes! So the little lion tries to lure the gazelle into a trap. He tries to snag its horns in a net. He even tries asking nicely. But every idea fails. Maybe the little lion needs the gazelle to make a mistake of her own…

This tongue-in-cheek tale offers a new delight on each page, then ends with the biggest surprise of all.  With madcap action and colorful artwork, The Biggest Mistake is sure to spark giggles from readers of all ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467467025
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Camilla Pintonato is an author, illustrator, and designer whose books include Detective Mole (HarperCollins), Full Moon, and Wally the World’s Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat (both Princeton Architectural). Her favorite activities include reading books, making footprints in the snow, and playing with her cat Rosmarino. Camilla lives in Venice, Italy. Visit her website at camillapintonato.com and follow her on Instagram @camilla_pintonato.

Camilla Pintonato is an author, illustrator, and designer whose books include Detective Mole (HarperCollins), Full Moon, and Wally the World's Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat (both Princeton Architectural). Her favorite activities include reading books, making footprints in the snow, and playing with her cat Rosmarino. Camilla lives in Venice, Italy. Visit her website at camillapintonato.com and follow her on Instagram @camilla_pintonato.

Editorial Reviews

06/12/2023

When Papa Lion decrees, “It’s time for you to catch a gazelle on your own,” his earnest little yellow cub readily accepts the challenge. But the cub’s “mistakes”—the various ways he underestimates what it will take to catch the fleet-footed prey—keep adding up. In minimally detailed vignettes, rendered in thick outlines and uniform fill-in color, the cub can’t outrun the gazelle or outsmart her (despite drawing a “cunning scheme” involving a camouflaged hole). And following an elephant auntie’s suggestion—asking “Can you let me catch you, PLEASE?”—gets him nowhere. The “Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner” vibe is strong in this one, albeit minus the bodily harm (the only injury is to the cub’s budding ego, especially when other gazelles gather to watch the fun). But when the cub seems to throw in the towel, it turns out that the biggest mistake isn’t his, before Pintonato (Detective Mole) reveals one more trick, silly and reassuring, up her narrative sleeve. Bibo’s translation strikes an arch, accessible tone, and playful typography helps those reading aloud hit all the comic beats. Ages 3–7. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

2023-05-24
Is this little lion ready for his first hunt?

In this idealized version of life on the savanna, a young lion cub is told by his father that it’s time to catch his first gazelle. After finding his target, the lion tries leaping, then running, next scheming, and asking politely, as well as various other strategies. Nothing seems to work! Warm, simplified pictures of the lion and gazelle are full of action and gentle humor, while clear, minimal text describes the action. The tale comes to a head when the little lion fails yet again and, realizing that the other gazelles are laughing at him, disappears. The gazelle is triumphant but soon grows bored and, after searching, gets a little too close to the lion, which allows him to catch…and release her, so she can take a turn and try to catch him. While not realistic—no bloodshed here—this cheeky Italian import effectively explores themes such as recovering from a mistake, resilience, motivation, and strategizing, and youngsters will appreciate the fun of the chase, the joy of solving a puzzle, and the satisfaction of finding a playmate. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fast-paced savanna adventure embedded with solid social-emotional messaging. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews