Kids, it's OK to find your own way in life

It's Okay to Make Mistakes By: Todd Parr Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Year published: 2014  Price: $17 Pages: 32

In Todd Parr's world, it's OK to wear your undies on your head, spill your milk or eat mac-and-cheese in the bathtub.

Most of all, it's OK to be yourself.

Inclusion and acceptance are Parr's mainstays in more than 30 quirky picture books for young kids, including It's Okay to Make Mistakes, out this month from Little, Brown and Co.

Parr, 52, relies on playful, brightly colored drawings and easy-to-understand messages to win over the age 4-to-6 set, along with their teachers and parents. In today's competitive swirl of perfectionism, it's Parr who declares it OK to draw outside the lines, celebrate your big hair and feel lonely sometimes.

The artist and writer lives in the US city of Berkeley, California, and worked as a flight attendant for 15 years while he got his career off the ground after leaving home in Rock Springs, Wyoming, soon after high school graduation.

A conversation with Todd Parr:

You've been called the artist who never grew up. Is that your secret to reaching kids?

It's the best answer I have when people say, 'Well you don't have kids, so how do you relate to kids?' My childhood is so vivid to me, and my dad was very funny. There's a playfulness and simplicity still within me.

You once got an F in art. What did the teacher say about that?

I was a difficult student. I struggled a lot. I continually expressed myself in art in ways that were not being asked of me and I got an F for not doing what I was told.