An entertaining new early reader and activity book takes on failing in a fun and meaningful way. Young girls will love reading and journaling while learning about self-empowerment, self-confidence, inclusion, kindness, and most of all--friendship. The perfect collection for today's tricky times.

Penelope Pumpernickel, Rachel Rye, Samantha Sourdough, Whitney Wheat. This clever quartet of friends are the feisty and fun main characters in a charming and entertaining new social and emotional learning book series for kids, The Breadcrumbz, by author Shannon Addison. The first book in this series My Crumby Guide to Failing brings an inventive approach to explaining the importance of making mistakes. The book includes two short stories and fun activities and journal prompts that support the learning concept. In the first story, "Always Know Your Goal," Rachel Rye loves to play soccer, even though she thinks she's not as good as her teammates. "So what happens when you try your best at something but it doesn't turn out the way you hoped it would?" the journal entry asks the reader. When Rachel makes a move on the soccer field that causes her team to lose the game, she is crushed. But her teammate Whitney Wheat charges toward Rachel and wraps her in a huge hug, nonetheless. "Knowing that her friend still believed in her made all the difference" to Rachel. A tale of overcoming obstacles and empathy that will resonate even with the youngest of readers.

The second story, "Penelope Bumbles the Bee," follows our Breadcrumbz friend, Penelope Pumpernickel, and how she does not win the school spelling bee, even though she is the best speller in her class. "Penelope tried to smile, she couldn't. She was too disappointed in herself. She knew she could have done better if she had just practiced her spelling words." The supportive word activity before the story shares, "Did you know that over time you make mistakes, you learn something from it, and that makes you smarter? When we make mistakes it helps our brains GROW? Your brain actually gets bigger and stronger from making mistakes and learning from them!"

Author Shannon Addison masterfully weaves together stories that encompass kindness, acceptance, failure, and friendship and frames these concepts with journaling questions that enable young children to develop a better understanding of how to recognize and confront difficulties in a constructive way.