Teaching & SEL
A Growth Mindset Picture Book for Elementary Students
Use a growth mindset picture book for elementary students to teach honest persistence rather than forced positivity after mistakes and setbacks.
A growth mindset picture book for elementary students should not imply that a cheerful attitude guarantees success. Useful growth mindset instruction helps children see that abilities and strategies can develop, while also making room for emotion, consequences, help, and changing circumstances. *Mr. J and the Tower That Fell* offers that more realistic pathway.
Written by certified Health and Physical Education teacher Dave Joisil and illustrated by Hafsa Asad, the story follows Mr. J after a shared tower project falls apart. His progress is uneven: he delays, feels hurt, pauses with clay, tells the truth, cries, and eventually rebuilds one block at a time. That sequence gives teachers more to discuss than a simple “try again.”
Illustration by Hafsa Asad: a child beginning again by placing one block
Growth Mindset Is Not Forced Positivity
Forced positivity rushes past discomfort: “It is fine,” “Just smile,” or “You can do anything.” Growth mindset asks a different set of questions: What happened? What part can change? Which strategy did not work? What support is available? What is a reasonable next attempt?
Children need permission to be disappointed. A fallen tower can matter even if an adult sees it as “just blocks.” A friendship change can hurt while the character still has responsibility for his choices. When students learn that difficult feelings and learning can coexist, persistence becomes credible rather than performative.
Try replacing common phrases:
- Instead of “Do not be sad,” say, “Sadness makes sense. What do you need before deciding what comes next?”
- Instead of “Never give up,” say, “Should you retry, change the plan, ask for help, or stop for safety?”
- Instead of “You are so smart,” say, “You compared strategies and changed one part.”
- Instead of “Everything happens for a reason,” say, “This happened. Let us understand it and choose the next responsible action.”
Four Story Moments That Build Realistic Persistence
First, Mr. J tells himself he will help tomorrow while his best friend carries most blocks. This is not lack of ability; it is delayed action. Ask students whether believing “I can do it later” changes the workload today. Growth includes noticing habits that interfere with a goal.
Second, his friend says she cannot do it alone and leaves. The boundary and the tower’s fall create consequences that positive thinking cannot erase. Students can distinguish controlling another person’s choice from controlling their own next behavior.
Third, Mr. J works with clay when he cannot face rebuilding. A pause may help his system settle, but a pause needs a return point. Ask, “How could he know when the pause has become avoidance?” Possible answers include setting a check-in time, asking for support, or choosing one tiny action.
Finally, he tells a gentle shopkeeper the truth, cries, and keeps building. Honesty changes what he can do next. The growth is not merely a taller tower; it is increased willingness to face his role and act while feelings remain.
Teach the Strategy, Not a Personality Label
Avoid dividing children into fixed and growth-mindset people. Everyone can respond differently across contexts. A student may persist in art and freeze during reading; another may seek help in math but avoid a friendship repair. Discuss choices and strategies, not identities.
Create a chart with four columns: Delay, Notice, Adjust, Act. Use fictional examples and invite students to move scenario cards across the sequence. For “I kept skipping the hard page,” notice might be “I feel confused,” adjustment might be “read with a partner,” and action might be “try the first paragraph together.”
The lesson on coping with setbacks provides a 30-minute version of this practice. Younger learners can use the hands-on ideas in perseverance activities for kindergarten and first grade.
Questions That Go Beyond ‘Did He Try?’
Ask questions with more than one defensible response:
- When did Mr. J first have a chance to change the pattern?
- Which mattered more at the toy shop: finding the coins or telling the truth? Why?
- How can a pause help? How can it keep a problem going?
- What did rebuilding address, and what might still require a conversation?
- If one strategy fails, what information did it provide?
For grades 3–5, ask students to map what Mr. J can control, influence, and cannot control. He can control whether he tells the truth and picks up a block. He may influence future cooperation through changed action. He cannot force the friendship or the original tower to return exactly as before.
Illustration by Hafsa Asad: a patient shopkeeper listening to a child
Assess Growth Mindset Without Rewarding Compliance
A child’s immediate retry is not the only evidence of learning. Look for naming confusion, requesting appropriate support, selecting a new tool, explaining why a strategy failed, tolerating revision, or returning after a planned pause. These are observable skills without requiring children to appear upbeat.
Use an exit response: “A strategy I could change is ___; my smallest next action is ___; support I could use is ___.” Students may answer about a fictional character. Revisit responses later and ask what new information changed the plan.
Information about *Mr. J and the Tower That Fell*, including paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, is available on the official book page. The story can begin the conversation, but growth mindset develops through repeated classroom opportunities to revise, repair, rest appropriately, and act.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is saying ‘yet’ enough to teach growth mindset?
No. “Yet” can open possibility, but students also need strategies, instruction, resources, feedback, and realistic goals.
Does taking a break show a fixed mindset?
Not necessarily. A planned pause can support regulation and better strategy selection. The key is deciding how and when to check back.
What if a goal truly is not achievable right now?
Acknowledge constraints honestly. Students can revise the goal, build a prerequisite skill, seek accommodations or support, or choose a different meaningful direction.
Bring *Mr. J and the Tower That Fell* Home
This book fits teachers who want growth mindset to sound like honest reflection and changed strategy—not a demand that children feel positive on command.
Order *Mr. J and the Tower That Fell* on Amazon or visit the official book page to learn more about the story, classroom use, bulk school orders, and author visits.
Dave Joisil—known as Mr. J—is a certified Health and Physical Education teacher and an independent Black male children's author. Supporting his independently published work helps make room for more educator-created stories and Black male representation in children's books.