Maggie Can't Wait [Hardcover]

Frieda Wishinsky (Author), Dean Griffiths (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Maggie is so excited to show her friends the picture of her soon-to-be-adopted sister. She can't wait to show the new baby off. Everyone will love her! But when Maggie brings a picture of the baby to show-and-tell, she doesn't get the reaction she expected. Kimberly says the baby is ugly. Even Maggie's best friend, Sam, admits that the baby has a squished nose, a wrinkly face, and big ears. Maggie is mortified. And now she can imagine how awful it's going to be to have such an ugly sister. She doesn't want to have anything to do with a baby sister with ears like a donkey, a nose like a squished bug and a face wrinkled like an old shoe.

When her parents pick the baby up at the adoption agency, Maggie's worst fears are realized. The baby is just like her picture. Maggie wants nothing to do with her. Not even when everyone else is making such a fuss over her. Not even when she is all alone in her crib and crying.

Not even when she smiles up at Maggie for the first time?

A delightful sequel to Give Maggie a Chance, Maggie Can't Wait again features the little girl with the big imagination as she dreads the arrival of a new adopted sister and learns how easy it is to make up her own mind.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—Like Give Maggie a Chance (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2002), this book tells the story of an elementary-aged girl who manages to overcome a loudmouthed schoolmate who makes her feel bad about herself. Maggie is excited about the arrival of her newly adopted baby sister. But when she takes a picture of Rose to school, a mean-spirited nemesis dubs the baby ugly. And when Maggie's friend Sam seems to agree, she is crushed. Maggie's active imagination devises a slew of preferable scenarios to that of bringing home this ugly child. How Maggie comes around to love her sibling is slightly predictable, but is certainly a resolution that many readers may recognize from their own lives. As in the first Maggie story, the characters are cats dressed in a style reminiscent of 1950s Americana. This is a good choice for examining the subtler side of bullying. The drama of a cruel comment is fully realized in a manner and tone that children will identify with; Maggie's mortification is as believable as her triumph.—Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

In this sequel to Give Maggie a Chance (2002), Maggie, a little cat girl, is excited about the kitten her family is adopting and fancies herself showing off the baby to oohs and aahs. But when she brings a photo of the baby to show-and-tell, the oohs are nonexistent. Even Maggie’s best friend, Sam, suggests that perhaps she’ll look better at a later time. Now Maggie moves in the opposite direction, wondering if folks will cover their faces when the baby appears. Happily, the baby’s arrival shows Maggie something she hadn’t known: when a baby smiles, even if she has a funny face, she can light up a room. There’s a sweetness here that transcends some of the more practical details of the story (for instance, the baby looks just fine in the photograph). Maggie and her feline friends, dressed in old-fashioned clothing, make the simple story work, while the charming watercolor art finds fun wherever it can. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Fitzhenry and Whiteside; 1 edition (January 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155455103X
• ISBN-13: 978-1554551033
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #836,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adorable and moving, August 30, 2009

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maggie Can't Wait (Hardcover)

Maggie Can't Wait - tomorrow is the big day her family has been waiting for. They will finally be able to pick up her new baby sister from the adoption agency. Wanting to share her joy with her fellow classmates Maggie - an young orange tabby - brings a photo of her new sibling to class.

When Kimberly - the class verbal bully - mocks the appearance of her new sibling, and even Maggie's best friend Sam can't find something nice to say, Maggie is thrown into a tailspin of confusion and ambivalence concerning the newest member of her family.

Continuing to build upon Maggie's story that began in Give Maggie a Chance, author Frieda Wishinsky has penned a tale that will delight Maggie's existing fans, as well as those new to the challenges she faces as she grows. Very accessible as a stand-alone read, I wouldn't have guessed that it was a picture book sequel. My children have never noticed either; this title has become a fast favorite of theirs.

Dean Griffiths' charming, old-timey illustrations entranced my little ones through the use of colorful vintage apparel and delicate, feathery texture. The gentle, muted, watercolor palette is given the soft, rich texture through the careful use of pastels. Griffiths' work is somewhat reminiscent of Janet Stevens early work in her anthropomorphic versions of classic children's stories such as The Princess and the Pea. While Griffiths' characters are indeed more slender they hold the same degree of fascination for my little ones that I beheld Stevens' work with as a child.

As I read through Wishinsky's story I found myself deeply moved emotionally. Though the text is simple, and age-appropriate, I found myself relating with Maggie and her peer-induced confusion and distress. Maggie is certainly a character who children will easily relate to - whether they have experienced mixed feelings revolving around the arrival of a new sibling, or been the victim of verbal put-downs.

Readers watch Maggie reveling in the heights of elation as she looks towards her new sisters arrival and the rapturous attention with which she imagines this new darling will be greeted with, ""She's wonderful!" everyone would coo when Maggie wheeled her sister down the street." Followed by her descent into a degree of doubt-filled anguish that only the young seem to possess, "She'd rather eat a barrel of worms than see that new baby's big ears tomorrow."

Wishinksy's subtle message that the taunting of verbal bully's is irrelevant, and that the arrival of new siblings always works out in the end, is one that will reassure and delight young readers for years to come. Thankfully the arrival of the sweet little calico eventually wins Maggie and Sam over. Her bright smile transformed a countenance that was in truth, not so terrible after all, into something absolutely adorable. "What a cute baby kitty!" my daughters cried - they too have been won over by Maggie's new little sister.

5.0 out of 5 stars Appropriate for ages 4-8, preschool through second grade, December 24, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maggie Can't Wait (Hardcover)

"Maggie Can't Wait" is a delightful children's story about a girl (cat) named Maggie who is excited because she is getting a new adopted baby sister. However all her plans to show off her new sister are rudely interrupted by a jealous schoolmate named Kimberly who declares the picture of Maggie's new sister to be shows she is ugly. When Maggie asks for support from her friend Sam, he gives his honest opinion instead ("She might look a lot better later.") Maggie is completely deflated. She dreads the adoption of her new sister and the party afterwards. Then she discovers the new baby Rose crying, and she manages to form a bond with her and Sam too. "Maggie Can't Wait" is charmingly illustrated with little girl and boy kitties in very nice people clothes and gently humorous details. "Maggie Can't Wait" is appropriate for ages 4-8, preschool through second grade.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent stuff, October 5, 2009

By 

Mr. G. P. Skinner "Graeme" (Cumbria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maggie Can't Wait (Hardcover)

I bought this for the illustrations by Dean Griffiths which are just excellent, the story is fun too ;-)