For many of us waiting is a bore. Sometimes it is very frustrating and annoying. We feel that we are wasting time, time that would be better spent if we were not waiting. Sometimes we are wasting precious time, but there are many other times when waiting is actually a good thing, when the act of waiting offers up joys of its own. Today's picture book explores this idea in the most delightful way.
Waiting
Waiting
Kevin Henkes
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
HarperCollins, 2015, 978-0-06-236843-0
There are five toys that sit on a windowsill and they are
all waiting. The little pink pig with the umbrella is waiting for the rain. The
owl is waiting for the moon. The little bear with the kite is waiting for the
wind, and the puppy on the sled is waiting for some snow. The rabbit is not
waiting for something special. He just likes to look out of the window. He just
waits because he enjoys doing so.
The owl is lucky
because the moon turns up “a lot.” The pig and bear also got to enjoy the rain
and the wind regularly. Snowfalls are not as common, but they do happen, and
when they do the puppy is very happy.
Life on the
windowsill does not change a great deal. Sometimes one of the toys goes away
for a while and sometimes they all sleep. Occasionally gifts appear, and once a
little toy elephant came to stay. He, alas, fell off the windowsill and broke,
which was very upsetting.
Through their
window the little toys see so many things that add to their experiences, and
then one day a new toy arrives and she has a little secret of her own.
Our lives are
full of times when we have to wait, and all too often we do so with impatience,
and perhaps even with frustration and annoyance. We want what we are waiting
for to arrive now.
In this gently
paced, softly colored picture book, we explore the idea that sometimes the
process of waiting is, in and of itself, a joy. If we take it all in as we wait,
and enjoy the journey, there is a good chance that we will discover treasures
that we might have otherwise missed. We don’t have to be doing a great deal,
and rushing about, to discover so many of the experiences that life has to
offer.
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