Waiting Is Not Easy!
by Mo Willems · Elephant & Piggie #22
A Geisel Honor early reader that teaches patience through laughter and a breathtaking visual surprise.
The story
Piggie tells Gerald she has a surprise for him, but he has to wait for it. Gerald tries to be patient — and fails spectacularly, cycling through excitement, frustration, anger, and despair as the hours pass. When darkness falls and Gerald is sure the day has been wasted, Piggie finally reveals her surprise, transforming Gerald's frustration into wonder.
Age verdict
Best for ages 4-6 who are actively developing patience skills, but enjoyable for any early reader up to age 8. The emotional sophistication rewards revisiting as children mature.
Our take
An engaging, emotionally sophisticated early reader that kids love performing and teachers love teaching — parents appreciate the emotional depth but the minimal vocabulary and narrow real-world scope limit its developmental utility.
What stands out
Each audience's top 3 dimensions. Out of 30 scored per book.
Kids love
- Ending satisfaction Exceptional
unlike El's complex emotional battle, Gerald's transformation is singular and perfectly compressed, delivering equal satisfying power in fewer words.
- First-chapter grab Strong
Comparable to Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute (K1=8 GRAPHIC) — Piggie's opening burst creates instant hook with unanswered question. Sits at anchor level because both achieve immediate engagement with zero setup and character-in-motion energy.
Parents love
- Reading gateway Exceptional
Comparable to Charlotte's Web (P7=10 MG) — Speech-bubble-only format, zero narration, controlled vocabulary, emotionally engaging, completable in 5 minutes. Sits at anchor level because both achieve maximum reading gateway removal of barriers; Geisel Honor recognition confirms it as one of the most effective beginning-reader entry texts available.
- Writing quality Strong
250 words contain complete emotional arc, two distinct voices, and phrase-level transformation. Triangulated with Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea (P2=10 MG) dialogue mastery: Willems' sentence-level control and emotional precision match that standard; format constraint (dialogue-only) rather than execution limits it to 8.
Teachers love
- Read-aloud power Exceptional
Comparable to Earthquake in the Early Morning (T1=9 EARLY) — Two instantly distinct performable voices, natural audience participation, visual climax creates shared wonder. Sits at anchor level because both qualify as 'one of the strongest read-aloud early readers available'—identical recognition tier.
- Reluctant reader rescue Exceptional
Hard Luck (T9=9 MG) — Speech-bubble format, no narration, controlled vocabulary, high engagement, completable in 5 minutes, Geisel Honor recognition. Triangulated with Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (T9=10 GRAPHIC): both remove every reluctant-reader barrier; Geisel Honor places this at same tier as Wimpy Kid gold standard, below Dog Man's cornerstone status.
✓ Perfect for
- • Children learning about patience and delayed gratification
- • Beginning readers who need an emotionally engaging first book
- • Read-aloud sessions that invite audience participation
- • SEL lessons on emotional regulation and frustration tolerance
Not ideal for
Children seeking plot complexity, new vocabulary, or extended stories — this is a brief, emotionally focused early reader rather than a chapter book.
At a glance
- Pages
- 64
- Words
- 0k
- Lexile
- 250L
- Difficulty
- Easy
- POV
- Third Person Omniscient
- Illustration
- Fully Illustrated
- Published
- 2014
- Publisher
- Hyperion Books for Children
- Illustrator
- Mo Willems
- ISBN
- 9781536422382
Mood & style
You'll know it worked when…
A child who finishes this book will want to read more Elephant & Piggie titles and may ask to see the stars at night.
If your kid loved "Waiting Is Not Easy!"
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