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As a parent of a young child who was often concerned about her performance, I’ve long looked for books that help convey that perfection is found in the effort and through trying, again and again, not through a flawless performance in each and every task.
This lively book is filled with energy and life on every page! Throughout, an energetic child puts on a backyard show for readers, showing off their skills through various gymnastic feats — great and small — they can perform. The unnamed child, who calls themself Gymnastica Fantastica, explains how they can perform various feats — illustrated in dynamic and colorful fashion — in rhyming text. Taken together, this heartwarming and encouraging book demonstrates how any shortcomings or imperfections in our performance are perfectly fine, as is. We can always work on it more later, you see. Gymnastica Fantastica! is sure to help every child feel stronger and more accomplished, even with (or because of!) any of our multitude of imperfections.
I’ve learned, through my own perfectionism and that of my child, that if we’re always trying to be perfect, there’s never any time to be happy in what we’ve accomplished thus far, mistakes and all. And, by embracing that improvement is a happy and on-going process, when things do turn out remarkably well, we can all rejoice in the excitement over all we’ve accomplished!