Shelly Unwin (text) and Lana Azore (illustrator), Wait a Minute! Larrikin House, July 2025, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781923345027
At 8 am a mother and her son are getting ready to head out on an unspecified errand, however they do not leave the house for another three hours and 10 minutes due to the son’s many delay tactics! What could the errand be, I wonder? It must be something unpleasant like a trip to the dentist, perhaps? However, the final page looks like a hoot, so who knows?
Hats off to the mum – she has greater patience than Job and way more patience than I have, and most of the time she is smiling! Thankfully, the boy does manage to complete all his morning tasks – shoes, teeth, lunch, bag, coat, hat and water bottle are all eventually ticked off the list. Perhaps they are heading to kindergarten or school, which would be halfway over by the time they arrive!
Whilst the storyline in this picture book is quite sparse, there is fun to be had on the first read, as we are invited to guess what surprising excuse the boy has each time as he asks his mother to “wait a minute!”, for example “Wait a minute! I need to brush my t…”. and the end word is revealed over the page. Subsequent reads may inspire suggestion for alternative excuses, and once familiar with the text, children may enjoy calling out the excuse before the page is turned.
Lana Azore’s illustration are bright, humorous and engaging and are sure to bring smiles.
Reviewed by Bronwyn Joseph
