FICTION

What Are You Waiting For?

by Marcy Campbell (text) & illus. by Shelley Johannes
Little, Brown. Mar. 2025. 40p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780316214247.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 2–This positive picture book encourages kids to be stars and enjoy the work and effort that goes into perfecting their talents. Anticipation grows as a classroom of young students gears up for a talent show. Kids in varying skin tones are shown doing acrobatics and magic tricks with ebullience pouring off the pages of one lively spread, while the next page shows kids sitting and looking bored waiting for their time on stage. Colorful illustrations are paired with rhyming text that assures readers they are always learning and growing and that hard work will pay off; the theme of the talent show—that it is not an end, but just a beginning—may go over readers’ heads, but they’ll still appreciate the payoff on the pages and the positivity emanating from this book.
VERDICT An affirmational and joyous work sure to nurture a growth mindset in young kids.
Reviewed by Carrie Voliva , Mar 28, 2025

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