Can't Hesitate: This Monster Cannot Wait by Bethany Barton

STEWART'S PARENTS ARE TAKING HIM CAMPING FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

"IT'S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!

I ABSOLUTELY CAN'T WAIT!"

If everybody's waitin' for the weekend, Stewart is at the top of the list. He's over the moon excited, and can't stand the anticipation. To heck with hesitation!! Stewart wants it to happen NOW!

Impetuous preschooler Stewart just knows that there must be something he can do to speed up time. He sets the clocks ahead. He turns the calendar page. His parents just point out that those things mark time, but they aren't the same as time.

Stewart even tries building a super-duper time machine, but it seems that time is still stubbornly standing still.

"AW, MAN!"

Then Stewart has a radical idea. Hoping that the last page of this book will conclude with him and his family at their campsite, he decides that he'll shorten all the parts in between.  Maybe if he just, um, "removes" the next page or two....  RIPPP!

But this time Stewart's parents are way ahead of him, sternly handing him the tape and pointing out that he can't change time that way either. Stewart is just going to have to wait for the final page along with the rest of the usreaders.

At school Stewart takes hope from all the end-of-school activities. But his classmate Felicia is not happy.  She is already sad that she will miss all her friends during school vacation!

"YOU'RE SO WORRIED ABOUT NEXT WEEK, THAT YOU'RE MISSING RIGHT NOW!" he points out.

Aw, Man!   Stewart suddenly realizes that he's been doing the same thing! Maybe he can wait after all.

In Bethany Barton's second book about her impulsive young monster, This Monster Cannot Wait! (Dial Books, 2013) Stewart learns that anticipation is part of the pleasure in waiting for a big event. With his wild monster mouth and unruly hair, Barton's comic character, who made his debut in This Monster Needs a Haircut (see review here) reflects the monster in all those impatient preschoolers who just can't wait!