Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

Great fun. A funny and enjoyable story for readers of all ages.

This book wasn't a total waste of time, but overall it was only okay. I found Timmy to be incredibly frustrating in his cluelessness, but kids might find him amusing.

Stephan Pastis is hilarious. Poor Timmy wants nothing more than to be a great detective but fate is always conspiring against him. Timmy is the poor, misunderstood genius of his neighborhood. The rest of the characters are also well-developed. The illustrations add to the hilarity.

Timmy is an aspiring detective, the problem is, he is completely clueless. Of course, he thinks he is a genius. As he tries to solve mysteries for his friends, he bumbles around and misses big clues and generally causing more trouble than when the mystery started.

I kept checking to see how many

Show More

pages were left in this book. I don't know if kids are going to get how deluded the narrator is. If they do, then it's a funny book...if they don't then it's terrible.

Show Less

If you are a fan of Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Big Nate you will like this book! It is even funnier!

His name is Timmy Failure, his best friend is a lost polar bear named Total, and together they run a detective agency called Total Failure, Inc. He's wrong when he claims that the name doesn't represent their work. Fans of the Wimpy Kid series will enjoy this, but I don't think it will have the

Show More

same broad appeal as Wimpy Kid. Timmy is so clueless that I don't think other kids will relate to him, but many will think his antics are pretty funny.

Show Less

Take eleven-year-old Timmy Failure — the clueless, comically self-confident CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the nation. Add his impressively lazy business partner, a very large polar bear named Total. Throw in the Failuremobile — Timmy’s mom’s Segway — and what you

Show More

have is Total Failure, Inc., a global enterprise destined to make Timmy so rich his mother won’t have to stress out about the bills anymore. Of course, Timmy’s plan does not include the four-foot-tall female whose name shall not be uttered. And it doesn’t include Rollo Tookus, who is so obsessed with getting into "Stanfurd" that he can’t carry out a no-brainer spy mission. From the offbeat creator of Pearls Before Swine comes an endearingly bumbling hero in a caper whose peerless hilarity is accompanied by a whodunit twist

Show Less

Witty fun that can be enjoyed by gifted and reluctant readers alike. Short chapters, a breezy pace, and those bug-eyed cartoons will inevitably appeal to "Wimpy Kid" fans.

I would have given it a two except I knew I was reading the book for my students. You see, the third and fourth grade students will love this book. It reminds me much of Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which I do not care for but my kids do. The main character, Timmy Failure, has ADHD and a very active

Show More

imagination. He applies his unique gifts to every situations and, as one might imagine, things do not turn out well as a result.

There is a small sadness in the book that I am not sure the author meant to convey. Timmy's mom is a struggling single parent. Timmy is left to his own devices, a lot, and a new boyfriend is introduced and eliminated rather quickly. Dad?? Timmy struggles in school and is oblivious to the needs of others.

I also did not go for a fourth star because of two word choices; asinine and be-jesus. My students are always asking me why authors put "bad words" in books for kids. Not all kids swear or use inappropriate phrases. It actually makes many uncomfortable and they usually return the books in case there are others.

Show Less

An entertaining start to a series that will likely have a large, enthusiastic following, especially fans of the Wimpy Kid books.

Timmy Failure is the founder, president, and CEO of the best detective agency in town, probably the nation (at least that what he says). Timmy is self-confident and clearly the sharpest kid at school, even if no one else sees that. This book is his documentation of the cases he solves. The author,

Show More

Stephan Pastis, (also the creator of Pearls Before Swine), does an incredible job of combing witty humor with clever drawings. If taken seriously, this book could be viewed as depressing, but, if taken in the manner it was intended, humor, the book is hilarious.

What I liked: the humor is fantastic. There were many times when I (literally) laughed out loud, and the drawings were so on point with the humor. The main character, Timmy, is unique and eccentric, and the mother is fabulous. There are many jokes that, while funny for kids, are even funnier for adults. This would be a great book to read with your child.

What I didn’t like: not much. My only criticism, and it’s not a big one, is that the book seemed a bit long. Although, if you took out the drawings, it’d be fairly short, it still felt like it dragged a bit in the middle. Not enough to put it down, though.

5 out of 5 stars

Show Less

A story set in the northern hemisphere - possibly Alaska, Canada or Russia about a young boy and his school mates. Bit weird in places - possibly more suitable for a boy - comes with stickers so would probably make an ideal gift.

Mistakes Were Made is not the sort of book I'd normally pay much attention to. I'm not a huge fan of children's lit and this one looked a bit too juvenile for me (not that I'm not very childish at heart). I picked up this novel for one reason: Tom McCarthy, genius behind such movie gems as The

Show More

Station Agent, Win Win, and Up, is adapting the novel to film. McCarthy isn't a filmmaker who deals in adaptations, so I was intrigued with what this book was all about.

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that McCarthy has taken on this project. It's quirky, which is right up McCarthy's alley, but it has a different tone than McCarthy's usual “quirky with heavy underlying dramatic weight.” But enough about a film that doesn't even exist yet.

This is a hilarious book. The humor is fresh and often unexpected—even though Timmy's lack of common sense is established early, the disconnect is so absurd and finely drawn that I laughed out loud every time he reached a conclusion. This is the kind of humor that can be understood by children and adults alike, but may at times be lost on some children.

The narrative was great and the plot worked fine for the style. I was very much engaged for the bulk of the story. At the point where the story begins to wrap, however, the plot sort of fizzled. The conclusion was very rushed and not all that entertaining. For a novel which spent so much time setting up the dynamics of the narrative and the setting, as well as introducing us to a myriad of wonderful characters, I guess there just wasn't enough room to build a satisfactory ending. Hopefully, now that the stage is set, the following books in the series provide a stronger story arc. (And, yes, I do plan on continuing this series.)

The Timmy Failure movie is schedule for release in 2020. I'm sure given McCarthy's handling, it'll be a fabulous movie—though one cannot forget (and maybe not forgive) The Cobbler.

Show Less

When you recommend books to children for a living, sometimes the children want to recommend books back. And then you end up reading truly terrible things. Timmy is a jerk. It was painful to read more than 25 pages. He's like a child version of Donald Trump, without the money. It's like a mashup of

Show More

Wimpy Kid and Calvin & Hobbes in the worst possible ways. I know that there are people who find "stupid" funny. I am not one of them.

Show Less

It was goofy. I loved the voice. It took me a moment to realize why the bear was named Total and loved how he came to Timmy. The fact that Timmy goes around town in a SegWay that his mom won as a prize is so funny.

The story of Timmy Failure, his polar bear, and their detective agency is somewhat amusing, though never laugh-out-loud funny. Many of the chapter titles, however, may make an adult chuckle. It goes on way too long and there are inconsistencies between Timmy's misunderstanding of the meaning of

Show More

"garbanzo" and his seeming understanding of a word such as "recidivism". His inability to overcome his prejudices to see what is plain to everyone else also gets annoying after a while--although it is likely to make your child feel smarter while reading it.

Show Less

You know how all books are not for all readers and some books work SO MUCH BETTER when read aloud? Yeah, this was definitely the case with the particular book and myself. I was all ready to throw in the towel because quite honestly, I couldn't believe what I was reading. I get it is for a much

Show More

younger audience than I, but I read a fairly large amount of Children's Fiction and even Picture Books, so the fact that this one was giving me fits was enough to aggravate. HOWEVER, in my exasperated state, I tried reading several passages aloud to illustrate the absurdity of what was happening...and you know what? It. Changed. EVERYTHING. I'm not saying I'm a diehard Timmy fan now, because yeah...I'll leave that to the fandoms, however I could appreciate the humor, the jokes, the ridiculous nature of some situations and the whole investigation into the missing candy THAT much better with all my gesturing, vocal variations, and moments of acting out. So why yes, not all books are for all readers, if you've a kiddo in the house that likes to use their imagination, and you happen to have a few moments to spare to enhance the adventure, I highly suggest a read aloud session with this book!


**copy received for review; opinions are my own

Show Less

Cheeky, smart-alecky fun that hides some terrific vocabulary inside. Good for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but harder/longer

Cute little book, read aloud to my kid many nights.