Sturdy for Common Things

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

by Stephan Pastis

Find it at: Your library | Amazon | Indibound

Published: Candlewick (February 26, 2013)

Recommended Reading Age: 7 & up

In a nutshell: Meet Timmy Failure:

This is Timmy Failure. Timmy Failure is the founder and CEO of a detective agency with his 1500lb polar bear sidekick, Total. This is Total:

Together they make the hilarious super sleuth team in Stephan Pastis‘ first book for children, Total Failure, Inc. They totally fail in every way at detective work, but they totally succeed when it comes to having a good laugh. Timmy sneaks off on missions riding on his mom’s Segway, the Failuremobile, while his polar bear partner in crime seems to always be getting into other people’s garbage and has an unending appetite for chicken nuggets and naps.

In between Timmy’s blatantly terrible and hilarious attempts at solving crimes, trouble frequently arises when Timmy gets into squabbles with his mom, his teacher, and his classmate and associate (Timmy language for friend) Rollo Tookus, who’s obsessed with good grades and getting into “Stanfurd”. There’s also Molly Moskins (the tangerine girl who smiles to much), and last but not least, Timmy’s arch enemy Corrina Corrina, known to Timmy as the Evil One. Corrina Corrina runs her own (cough.. successful) detective agency of her own, the Corrina Corrina Intelligence Agency also known as the CIAA.When Timmy’s mom’s Segway goes missing, she is the prime suspect.

And if you aren’t won over yet by this kooky cast of characters there’s my personal favorite, Flo, “Flo is not short for Florence. It’s short for “Misshelve my books and the blood my FLOw,” the librarian. Flo is a tough biker dude bibliophile who reads Emily Dickinson and only communicates through grunts. Flo looks out for Timmy in more ways than just allowing him to go over the allotted 20-minutes for internet usage at the library.

I honestly cannot remember laughing out loud from a book as many times as I did with Timmy Failure. The characters, the story concept, and the illustrations are spot-on. I also appreciate that Timmy is not the one dimensional character I assumed he was going to be when I first started reading the book. There’s more depth than what meets the eye. Throughout his hap-hazardous adventures, he is an only child of a single mom who seems to be struggling with her job and finances and has a real loser of a boyfriend. Timmy frequently mentions making gobs of money with Total Failure, Inc. and giving his mom a job after a few successful cases. It makes me wonder if perhaps his wild imagination causes him to act out as a way to cope with his troubles. It’s easy to laugh at Timmy’s completely flawed attempts at being a detective, and his absurd imaginary polar bear friend, Total, but the bread-and-butter of Timmy’s character is that his real-life issues make him relatable to the reader and seem, well, human.

Fans of Wimpy Kid and Big Nate will instantly gravitate to the humor and heavy illustrated format of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. Let’s face it, Timmy will probably not succeed at world domination, but he will dominate the hearts of young readers as well as adults who are certain to find themselves chuckling along with their kids.

It would be a TOTAL FAIL not to read this book.

Don’t take my word for it: “I love [Stephan Pastis’] Pearls Before Swine and was definitely looking forward to this. The illustrations are great, and I think students will be quick to pick it up. Fabulous beginning: “It’s harder to drive a polar bear into somebody’s living room that you’d think.” – review from Ms. Yingling Reads

Trailer:

Extras: Read an excerpt from the book. Download and enjoy these fun and games.

Check out Candlewick’s Timmy Failure Pinboard which has a great collection of videos and pics.

Also, take a minute to visit the Failure is an Option: Timmy Failure Blog.

Total Failure, Inc. must be serious about world domination, because Timmy and Total even have their very own Facebook page.

Source of book reviewed: Advanced Reader Copy provided by the wonderful people at Candlewick.

 

(image source: timmy, total)