The Power of Yet

Recommending persistence and self-assurance, this picture book features a young piglet who grows increasingly impatient at being told “Not yet.” “Not yet” ready to ride a bicycle without training wheels, successfully flip pancakes, join the baseball team (“6 and up,” a sign reads), play violin, or ride the big kid rides, the piglet finally erupts in frustration over an uncompleted 1,000-piece puzzle: “How do I get to YET?” A guardian responds, “It takes growing and doing,/ patience and time,” describing the amount of waiting, failing, collaboration, patience, and “GRIT” involved in achieving one’s goals. Spare, gently rhyming text shows Cocca-Leffler’s proficiency in the area of uplifting children, while heartwarming pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations empathically show the piglet’s struggles, likely to the amusement of young readers. An encouraging reminder for those learning how to focus themselves on the present instead of agonizing over the future. Ages 3–5. [em](Jan.) [/em]