Timmy Failure (book series)

{{Short description|Kid's book series}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2025}}

Timmy Failure is children's book series authored and illustrated by cartoonist Stephan Pastis, creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine.{{Cite web |title=Timmy Failure Series |url=https://www.booktrust.org.uk/book/t/timmy-failure-mistakes-were-made/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Book Trust}} The series chronicles the life of a child detective, the eponymous Timmy Failure, who lives with his mother and is often accompanied by a pet polar bear. Pastis has described Timmy as "clueless and arrogant, though bearable given his family situation."{{Cite web |title=Stephan Pastis: Meet the Author: Stephan Pastis: Meet the Author [Audio] on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stephan-pastis-meet-the-author-audio/id619418480?i=1000135878239 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-US}} When discussing the impact of his daily comic strip on his writing style in the book series, Pastis noted that the "forced economy" of a short comic strip caused him to realize the value of words, which helped him in crafting the stories in the series.

The books series inspired a movie based largely on the first book in the series, Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-25 |title='Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made': Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/timmy-failure-mistakes-were-made-review-1272828/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Hollywood Reporter}}