Waiting

Summary

Waiting is a quiet, luminous picture book about five toy animals who sit together on a windowsill, each anticipating something different from the world outside. The owl waits for the moon, the pig for the rain, the bear for the wind, and the puppy for the snow. The rabbit waits for nothing in particular — he simply likes to look out the window and wait. Through the changing seasons, gifts appear on the sill, a new friend joins the group, and one companion is lost. Henkes’s spare text and softly colored illustrations create a world of gentle rhythms and open-ended reflection. The story invites children to consider what it means to wait, whether waiting requires a reason, and how we find contentment while anticipating something that has not yet arrived.

Discussion Guidelines

Waiting is a deceptively simple book, and its philosophical richness lies precisely in what it leaves unresolved. The five toys sit in the same place through every season, and yet each is oriented toward something entirely different. This contrast offers children a natural invitation to reflect on desire, purpose, patience, and what makes a life feel meaningful.

One of the most generative entry points is the rabbit, who waits without any particular object in mind. Unlike the other toys, the rabbit has no specific thing to look forward to — he simply waits and watches. This raises a genuine philosophical puzzle: can waiting be its own purpose? What does it mean to be patient when there is nothing definite to be patient for? Children can wrestle with whether the rabbit’s way of waiting is wiser or stranger than the others’, and whether contentment requires a goal or can exist on its own terms. Facilitators can ask children whether they have ever felt peaceful without knowing exactly why, and whether that feeling is the same as or different from anticipating something specific.

Another thread is the relationship between waiting and time. The seasons change around the windowsill, and the toys observe the world in passage without entering it. This creates a space to discuss what it means to be on the inside looking out: are the toys missing something, or are they simply choosing a different relationship to the world? Older children may begin to ask whether waiting is a form of living or a pause from it — a question that does not have a single right answer and is all the richer for that.

The story also touches on loss and change. One toy is broken and swept away, and a new one eventually arrives to take a place on the sill. Children may notice that the group carries on, and that the windowsill absorbs both arrival and departure without much drama. This can open a careful conversation about impermanence: what happens when something or someone we care about is no longer there? Does the group change when its membership does? Facilitators should follow the children’s lead here, allowing the discussion to move toward personal connections without pressing children to disclose more than they choose.

Finally, there is the theme of desire and purpose. Each toy has chosen something to wait for, or has been given something to wait for, and these choices say something about what each values. Children can reflect on what they themselves are waiting for, and why, and whether some things are worth waiting for longer than others. The book resists supplying answers to these questions, which makes it an especially good vehicle for genuine inquiry: Henkes himself noted that the Library of Congress catalogued the book under “Philosophy: Fiction,” and facilitators can lean into that spirit of open wondering.

Questions for Philosophical Discussion

Waiting and Purpose

1. The rabbit waits without waiting for anything in particular. Do you think that is a good way to wait? Why or why not?
2. Do you need a reason to wait for something, or can waiting be worthwhile on its own?
3. Is there a difference between being patient and just passing time?

Desire and Contentment

1. Each toy is waiting for something different. What does that tell us about what they care about?
2. Can you be happy while waiting for something you do not have yet?
3. Is it better to want something specific or to be content with whatever comes?

Change and Loss

1. When one of the toys is broken and gone, how do you think the others feel?
2. Does a group change when one of its members is no longer there?
3. Can something new fill the place of something we have lost?

Inside and Outside

1. The toys watch the world through the window but never go outside. Do you think they are missing something?
2. Is there a difference between watching something happen and being part of it?
3. What does it mean to be a good observer of the world?

Suggested Activity: What Are You Waiting For?

After reading and discussing the book, invite students to create their own windowsill scene. Provide each student with a sheet of paper and drawing supplies, and ask them to draw a window. Inside their window, on the sill, they should place one figure — themselves, a toy, an animal, or an imaginary character — waiting for something. Ask them to think carefully about what their figure is waiting for and to draw what can be seen through the glass: is it raining, snowing, a full moon, or simply a quiet street?

Once students have finished, ask them to write or dictate a single sentence that begins: “I am waiting for _________, because _________.” Then, as a variation inspired by the rabbit, ask a follow-up: “What would it feel like to wait without waiting for anything in particular?”

Invite students to share their drawings and sentences with the class or in small groups. Use the sharing as an opportunity to return to the discussion: Did everyone choose different things to wait for? Does knowing what someone is waiting for tell us something about who they are? Finally, display the drawings together as a kind of collective windowsill, and ask children what they notice about the group they have made.