Mistakes Were Made

By Stephan Pastis,

Book cover of Mistakes Were Made

Book description

The movie tie-in edition of the award-winning and hugely popular adventures of Timmy Failure and his polar bear sidekick Total, who create chaos as they attempt to make sense of the world in the first book in the New York Times bestselling series.

Riotously funny and perfect for fans of…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

2 authors picked Mistakes Were Made as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

When I read the first line of this book, “It’s harder to drive a polar bear into somebody’s living room than you’d think,” I knew I had stumbled upon something good.

And I was right. How can you not love a book that starts with a polar bear being driven into a living room? How can you not want to keep reading to find out why exactly this polar bear is being driven into a living room? I rest my case.  

Is it a novel? Or a graphic novel? Who cares! Timmy Failure books pull in young readers with engaging stories with lots of sidetracks and lots of cartoons along the way, ostensibly created by the main character, a detective named Timmy. However, Timmy’s a terrible detective, but that’s good when you encounter (and generate) silly mysterious situations like missing Halloween candy. Timmy continually seems to miss obvious clues, making the reader feel smarter and like they’re in on something that Timmy isn’t.  

Want books like Mistakes Were Made?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Mistakes Were Made.

Browse books like Mistakes Were Made

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in girls, school, and polar bears?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about girls, school, and polar bears.

Girls Explore 86 books about girls
School Explore 254 books about school
Polar Bears Explore 23 books about polar bears