Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Conklin (A Perfect Mistake) and Hong (Happy Dreams, Little Bunny) compassionately limn experiences of childhood longing in an emotionally honest picture book about one of life's truths: "Sometimes, you have to wait." Alongside that refrain, here-and-now language describes the particular discomforts of pauses brief and extensive, including queuing for the pool ("The line is so long, and the sun is so hot"), awaiting a loved one's return ("I need a hug right NOW"), and yearning to fit a too-big bicycle ("Your feet won't reach the pedals,// No matter how hard you try"). Gentle gouache and crayon illustrations depict an East Asian--cued child's relative moment in time via temporal signifiers (a full moon, a calendar). While honoring the child's ardent desires, pages yield surprise treasures of the moment--a new friend met in line, listening to the loved one on the phone, an earthworm spotted from the existing tricycle--until, "finally," the initial scenarios resolve. Smartly using waiting as a means of building the book's narrative tension, the creators offer a mindful route through moments when "each second feels like forever." Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. Illustrator's agent: Kirsten Hall. Catbird Productions. (Jan.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
The passage of time can seem painfully slow to young children who haven't yet mastered how to measure hours, days, weeks, months, or years. This is especially true when a child is waiting for something to happen after a certain duration of time. In Conklin's text, a little girl awaits her mother's return from a weeklong business trip. Her father and baby sibling are home with her, and they cross off days on a calendar and fill their time with trips to the local pool and with window shopping in town. Throughout, Hong's watercolors create a reassuring depiction of the child's family and environment, with a calming, cool palette of mostly blue and green settings and soft, rounded forms. This comforting visual atmosphere is reassuring as the girl repeatedly appears dejected despite her father's loving care. While anticipating her mom's return is her main concern, other kinds of waiting underscore her longing. Standing in line at the pool or bemoaning how long it takes to get big enough to ride a two-wheeler, she often pulls on her father's arm, as if willing him to change his pace would hurry time along. Small pleasures punctuate the waiting time, and the family's joyful reunion provides a satisfying conclusion, augmented by a new bicycle as the cherry on top of this sweet story. Megan Dowd LambertMay/June 2024 p.110 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A child finds contentment in the act of waiting. Waiting is hard, whether you're in line on a hot day to get into the pool, counting down the days until Mama returns from a weeklong trip, or yearning to grow tall enough to ride a big bike. For the protagonist, who's cued Asian, "each second feels like forever when all you want is NOW." But as time passes, the child discovers value in patience, including meeting a new friend while waiting at the pool. The child also enjoys some independence and develops an appreciation for the little things in life. In her debut picture book, Conklin uses simple, straightforward language from a second-person perspective to convey the struggle of waiting. Readers are bound to see themselves in the protagonist as the child flails in frustration, longs for a hug from a loved one, and worries about the future ("Will I ever be big enough?"). With soft textures and a gentle palette, Hong's gouache and crayon illustrations perfectly echo the sentiment of the text and inspire a sense of calm mindfulness. The use of white space also encourages readers to pause and focus on small details. In a world fixated on instant gratification, Conklin and Hong make a persuasive case for the sense of joy and connection that can be found when we slow down. A relatable and beautifully rendered tale about the value of patience. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
