When You Have to Wait

by Melanie Conklin, Leah Hong (Illustrator)

Overview

A mindful, gentle picture book about patience and learning to find beauty in the act of waiting.

Sometimes, you have to wait.

For the line at the public pool on a hot summer day.

For mom to come home after being away.

For your legs to grow just a bit longer to ride a new big kid bike.

The seconds drag on... each one feels like forever. Why can’t you have it now?

But while you wait, you might notice things: a possible new friend who is also in line, why homecoming hugs are extra special, and how beautiful the world is when you’re not racing by.

Sometimes, when you have to wait, you find the good in the moments between now and later.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250816542
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	01/09/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Melanie Conklin grew up in North Carolina and worked as a product designer before she began her writing career. Her debut middle grade novel, Counting Thyme, is a Nerdy Book Award winner, a Bank Street Best Children’s Book, winner of the International Literacy Association Teacher’ Choice Award, and a finalist for the Missouri Mark Twain Book Award, the Iowa Children’s Choice Award, the Illinois Bluestem Award, and the Arkansas Charlie May Simon Award. She is also the author of middle grade novels Every Missing Piece (Nebraska Golden Sower Award Nominee), A Perfect Mistake (Utah CLAU Beehive Book Award Nominee, South Carolina Book Award), the forthcoming Crushed (2024), and her debut picture book, When You Have to Wait. When she’s not writing, Melanie spends her time doodling and dreaming up new ways to be creative. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.

Leah Hong spent many of her childhood hours drawing stories, but it wasn’t until she had children of her own that she became re-immersed in the world of picture books, and fell in love with them all over again. An art school graduate with a visual arts degree in painting, Leah has worked both as an illustrator and a graphic designer. Her lifelong love of making art and storytelling led her to create her picture book debut, Happy Dreams, Little Bunny. She lives with her family in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/18/2023

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.)

Publishers Weekly

★"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." —Kirkus, starred review

★"Conklin and Hong compassionately limn experiences of childhood longing in an emotionally honest picture book about one of life’s truths: Sometimes, you have to wait.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This peaceful picture book is a kind reminder that it is okay to slow down and find beautiful ways to pass the time as you wait." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)

2025 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Selection

From the Publisher

★ 2023-10-21
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)

Kirkus Reviews