The Most Magnificent Thing

Spires, Ashley. The Most Magnificent Thing. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press, 2014.

“She makes things. He unmakes things.” She then decides to make the most magnificent thing. Things go wrong and she decides to try again. It doesn’t work and she gets frustrated. She decides to quit – her “assistant” convinces her to take a walk. As she walks she becomes last frustrated. After her walk – she finds the “right” things about each of her things. She combines the “right” things and ends up with a magnificent thing.

Ashley Spires understands the frustrations of elementary age students (and even adults) who have projects that don’t go the way they expected. Her illustrations in this picture book are endearing, they remind me a little bit of the characters in Despicable Me. Since she is both author and illustrator, her illustrations go beyond the text and tell part of the story.

When introducing my Maker Days or other STEAM activities, I often use The Most Magnificent Thing to encourage the students that “failure” isn’t bad. I highly recommend The Most Magnificent Thing, which is available from Amazon. Thanks for using my affiliate link which helps support this children’s literature blog.