Trying By Kobi Yamada

 

Trying

By Kobi Yamada

This is one of my favorite authors. He has also written What Do You Do With A Problem and What Do You Do With An Idea which are also really great books. I haven't read his other books, but I'm sure they are just as good.

Trying is about a boy who walks in on a sculptor and wishes he too could sculp such beautiful things. The sculptor tells the boy that he can, but he must try first. The boy replies "I'd rather just watch. I can't mess things up if I just watch." The sculptor tells the boy that you succeed because you are willing too fail. Every time you try to do something, then you are one step closer to succeeding and that you should be proud of your failures because it means that you are learning. The sculptor takes the boy in the back of his shop and shows him all of his failed sculptures. "These are my friends. These are my failures." The sculptor tells the boy, "When we make it safe to fail, we make it safe to succeed."

Trying is such a powerful and amazing book and I recommend it for both children and adults. It provides a very different perspective on failure and the necessity to try.