Waiting Is Not Easy!
Waiting Is Not Easy! by Mo Willems takes about 2 minutes to read aloud (197 words, about 1 sentence a page), and it lands best with children aged 3-6.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 2 minutes
- Words
- 197
- Sentences a page
- 1
- Re-read tolerance
- 5/5still fine on the fortieth reading
- Vocabulary
- 1/5plain words
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The useful verdict
Why Waiting Is Not Easy! works
Gerald's 'GROAN!' gets bigger on every page until it fills the spread, so a child who cannot yet read still knows exactly how loud to be - and the wordless starfield payoff at the end lands even when they have seen it before.
Themes: patience, friendship, night sky, humour.
Same shape, new story
Books like Waiting Is Not Easy!
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
There Is a Bird on Your Head!about 2 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!about 1.5 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Grumpy Monkeyabout 4.5 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Frog and Toad Are Friendsabout 20.5 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Go, Dog. Go!about 4.5 minutes · 4/5 re-read
We Are in a Book!about 2.5 minutes · 5/5 re-read
The Very Impatient Caterpillarabout 3.5 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Jabari Jumpsabout 4 minutes · 4/5 re-read- Bilal Cooks Daalabout 6 minutes · 3/5 re-read
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about Waiting Is Not Easy!
- How long does it take to read Waiting Is Not Easy! aloud?
- About 2 minutes at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 197. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is Waiting Is Not Easy! actually for?
- Ages 3-6 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 1 sentence a page and vocabulary at 1 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does Waiting Is Not Easy! survive being read on repeat?
- Yes - this is one of the few that is still fine on the fortieth reading, which is why it scores 5 out of 5 with us.
- Is Waiting Is Not Easy! a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it has a refrain a child can join in with. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.