Let’s Try Again Another Day

By Charlotte Barkla & Jade Goodwin
Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

Charlotte Barkla is the author of All Bodies Are Good Bodies and From My Head To My Toes, I Say What Goes, both reviewed in StoryLinks. Here she has teamed up with Jade Goodwin, a First Nations illustrator based in Australia, who has also illustrated many picture books including the Ash Barty presents Little Ash series.

The main message here is that when we are learning something we often make mistakes, but making mistakes is part and parcel of learning and if we don’t get things right immediately, we’ll try again – another day.

The strength of this book lies in how it shows children learning (and making mistakes) in so many aspects of daily life – it’s not just learning how to tie a shoe lace but learning how to make friends, when to say sorry, what to do on rainy days, helping out and speaking up.

Jade Goodwin has created many different scenarios that children can easily recognise and relate to. The brightly illustrated pages simply burst with colour, showing  many different children engaged in living life, making mistakes and trying again. There can be ‘angry words and lots of crying‘, as well as frowns, tears, scowls, frustration, impatience, awkwardness – but it all ends with smiles.

A book that helps parents and teachers encourage and support children in their learning journeys.

Lothian Children’s Books  2024  ( have extensive Teacher’s Notes)