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Books & resources

Best Books for Children Who Find Losing Hard

If losing a board game regularly ends in tears, shouting or giving up, stories can sometimes make the conversation easier.

Illustration of a child feeling disappointed after losing a game

These are the books we think are particularly useful for talking about disappointment, frustration and trying again with children aged around 4–8. They work best read at a calm moment, not straight after a hard loss.

If it's the game itself that's the sticking point rather than the story, our cooperative games for children who hate losing take a different approach: everyone wins or loses together.

Quick picks

Best for frustrationThe Most Magnificent Thing
Best for perfectionismThe Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
Best activity bookLittle Decision Makers

Compare the options

ResourceBest forAgeFormat
The Most Magnificent ThingFrustration, persistence and trying again4–8Picture book
The Girl Who Never Made MistakesFear of mistakes and perfectionism5–8Picture book
Little Decision MakersPractising the "stop, think, choose" pause4–8Activity workbook

Our recommendations

The Most Magnificent Thing children's book cover
Growing Wise pick

If losing turns into shouting, tears or a flipped board

The Most Magnificent Thing (Ashley Spires)

Best for
Frustration, persistence and trying again
Age
4–8
Why we chose it
A child has an idea, struggles again and again to make it work, gets very frustrated, steps away for a while, and comes back to it. It works particularly well for children who become frustrated when something doesn't work immediately.
Try asking
"What changed when she took a break?"
This may be useful ifyour child gives up quickly after a mistake, or expects to succeed immediately.
Choose something else ifthe main issue is losing a competitive game against someone else, rather than frustration with a task: see our cooperative games list instead.
View on Amazon →
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes children's book cover
Growing Wise pick

If your child is too scared of getting it wrong to even try

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes (Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein)

Best for
Fear of mistakes and perfectionism
Age
5–8
Why we chose it
Useful for talking about what happens when being afraid of a mistake starts getting in the way of trying or enjoying things.
Try asking
"What would you try if making a mistake was completely OK?"
This may be useful ifyour child avoids trying new things in case they get it wrong, or becomes very hard on themselves over small errors.
Choose something else ifthe main issue is losing to someone else rather than making mistakes: The Most Magnificent Thing above is a closer fit.
View on Amazon →
Little Decision Makers workbook cover
Growing Wise workbook

If you want a screen-free way to practise choosing, not just reading

Little Decision Makers (Medha Khare)

Best for
Practising the "stop, think, choose" pause away from a screen
Age
4–8
Why we chose it
This is a Growing Wise product: a pencil-and-paper companion to the free Growing Wise game, giving children everyday situations to think through at their own pace.
Try asking
"What would you choose to do first?"

This is a Growing Wise product, not an independent pick: we're the ones who made it.

See the workbook →

Want to practise this together?

Books and workbooks work well alongside a short, calm activity. Your child can practise a losing scenario in our free 5-minute game, or read our full guide to helping a child who finds losing really hard.

Try a losing scenario →

Is something else going on?

Frustration and giving upConfidence & giving up →
Big reactions to small thingsBig feelings →
The game itself is the problemCooperative games →

By the Growing Wise team · Last reviewed: 8 September 2026

Growing Wise offers educational ideas for parents and carers. It is not a substitute for professional medical, developmental or mental-health advice.