This is a cute and well written book about Nigel, a young hedgehog who has autism. He has some problems at school, but the one that causes problems with the other children is that he does not like to wait. He comes up with a song to sing while he is waiting and the other children invite him to play because he does not get angry and scream. Having worked with children who have autism, this is a very simplified story. When I read this to my 4 year old niece and nephew, they did not get the autism part, they just saw a child who had problems waiting his turn. They appreciated the story and began singing the song with the tune we made up. It could be used in classes where there is a child that has these issues to help the other children to understand and have patience with others that may be different.

I thought this book was adorable! I am currently working on waiting with a few of my kiddos on the spectrum so I hope to be able to introduce this book! I love the repetition and social story quality of this book.

I really liked this book. It's different in a good way and I like that there's a song. My little one enjoyed the song (though i'm not sure we were ever in tune) and I think for people who have autism and other additional or learning needs the repetition helps understanding. My little one is 6 and has learning difficulties and traits of Austism. She loved it!

Nigel a hedgehog learns to wait for his turn by singing the waiting song. Illustrations are colourful and bright.

Thanks to netgalley

Nigel is a 4 year old hedgehog who is working on waiting his turn. Just like many other 4 year olds Nigel does not like to wait! Nigel also has Autism. Him and his friends learn a song about waiting to help him play with his friends.

The descriptions of Autism in the book are a bit stereotypical (flapping hands, rocking) but can be used a good starting point for discussion with students.

It might be best to read this to children on the spectrum and see how they react to the story. I liked the little song and Nigel's coping skills, but I wonder how this will work in practice.

What a wonderful book! a valuable lesson on how to approach children in the autism spectrum. If you can teach them to be able to wait then people may be more understanding.

This children's book focuses on Nigel, a four year old autistic child, who has trouble waiting his turn. Through interaction with his classmates, Nigel learns a coping skill (singing the waiting song) to help deal with his frustration over having to wait his turn to share toys.

The illustrations are cute and definitely eye catching. They are brightly colored and show emotion and personality for each character. Our three year old was drawn in by the pictures and wanted me to read the book twice in a row. The title oversimplifies the larger issues and struggles children with autism encounter, but it does do a good job of reinforcing for all children that sharing, patience, kindness and acceptance are important when dealing with others.

A lovely little book which not only gives the autistic child advice on how to wait their turn, but also explains to the non-autistic child that everyone is different and there are some children who need help at learning how to share. The illustrations are bold and colourful, and I'm sure that the children in my setting would be just as keen to name the animals as to listen to the story. The song is simple and catchy, and I know that after a few times of reading it together, we would have children singing along.

In the past, we have used an egg timer to illustrate to children how long they can play with a toy before they should pass it along (for those who do not understand the "when you've finished, could you please give it to X"). I could see that for some of those children that this could be a possible tool as well. It's always good to add another string to your, and their, bow!!

I so love this book! My son likes that there is book about him and he was so excited as we read further into the book. Then that song! It's wonderful. This is now a nightly routine and he tries singing the lyrics when he needs patience in waiting his turn. I think it allows him to become self aware and center himself in his own and not me saying key words to trigger a reaction. I think over time he will remember most of the song and do it naturally in his own. I love that this book offers a way to self cope with his issues that aren't negative. The pictures also allows him to get a visual of the interactions between himself and others in a way

The Waiting Song by Natasha Barber would be a wonderful book to share during the first week of preschool or kindergarten. It is a fun reminder of how to share and how to wait your turn. I can see using this book often throughout the year as we continue to work through sharing, listening and waiting challenges.

The idea behind this book is good. I think it could be a helpful book for kids.

This was a nice and well written book about Nigel, a young animal who has autism. The book is very child friendly with the images being nice, clear and bright but I'm not sure how realistic it is to actually do what the book says and I think from speaking to friends with autistic children it is an awful lot harder that the book makes out - that said it is a good way to show other children that some times there are people who are slightly different to them and they can learn about patience and tolerance from a young age which I do encourage.

This is a sweet little book with a huge message. Nigel, is an adorable four-year old hedgehog, who loves toys and cookies like all the other kids in his class but his behaviour is different. You see Nigel has autism.

His vocabulary is limited and he has difficulty using his manners and especially waiting for his turn to arrive. This causes a lot of friction with both his classmates and his little brother at home. He thinks he can just take their toys away and use it without asking and he gets upset when time and time again he is confronted with the loud response... "MINE!" Tears flow and he feels rejected and downhearted.

His patient teacher Miss Little and his loving Mother all work with him to overcome this behaviour. The results of Nigel 's actions need to be rectified but how?

Nigel takes some time out and he thinks and thinks until he has a eureka moment!!! He creates a Waiting Song. Yes, this could be the answer he is looking for. He puts his song into practice and low and behold it works!!!! By singing his song he is able to keep his impulses at bay, be more polite, and wait his turn.

The illustrations are big, bold, vibrantly coloured and very expressive. Each character portrayed is truly adorable.

"The Waiting Song" highlights the struggle of a child with autism and how loving, caring people around him can help him make sense of his world and become more a part of it, accepted and valued. I highly recommend this book.

Nigel is a hedgehog who is on the autism spectrum. He is not very good at waiting. He makes up the waiting song to sing when he has to wait for his turn. I DO NOT like this book. One one side you have various kids yelling MINE. No excuse me I was playing with that, or no please wait your turn, just MINE (emphasis included in the story). The story is supposed to be about Nigel learning patience, and it is, but there is a lot of bad manners in this book that need corrected. This story could be so much better, and should be.

2.5★
Cute illustrations (rounded up the stars for them) of animal characters make for a colourful story about a hedgehog named Nigel. We see a picture of a little hedgehog with a big smile, looking as if he's jumping happily. We are told:

"Nigel has autism. He doesn’t talk or say many words. He learns some things fast and some things slowly. He flaps his hands and rocks his body back and forth when he gets very excited."

Trouble starts when he wants to play with Pablo's toy and tries to take it away.

"Pablo pulled the truck back and yelled,'MINE!'

Nigel screamed and ran away when he did not get the toy truck. 'Nobody wants to play with me! cried Nigel"

So he makes up a waiting song, which mostly says wait, wait, wait. There is a little sheet music in the front for teachers and parents to play.

If you read and sing this with a child, you would have to do some flapping and rocking and get them to flap and rock so they can understand why Pablo asks the teacher why Nigel is different.

Except for Pablo's question, all the actions and words of the story are typical behaviour of most young children. Of course, some children won't grab a toy back, they'll just burst into tears when someone takes it away, but that's not shown here. If they'd done that, Nigel may not have understood why (or even noticed), and I think that's a learning opportunity that could have been included.

Sharing is a problem for all kids, and Nigel isn't being shown how to ASK to play with a toy. Nor is Pablo shown how to respond nicely when someone tries to grab a toy.

The next day, Nigel tries to take another child's toy, and

Charlie pulled the train back and yelled,'MINE!'

Nigel did not scream or run away. He flapped his hands, rocked back and forth, and sang his waiting song."

Meanwhile, the teacher says nothing to Charlie about yelling at Nigel. Charlie just seems satisfied that Nigel has waited so he invites him to play and is then patted on the head by the teacher who tells Nigel he did a good job waiting.

If only it were so simple. All little kids need to learn manners, all little kids have meltdowns, and yes, they sure need to learn that not everyone learns or behaves the same way (or remembers their manners, either).

I'm delighted to see autism and its associated challenges being mentioned in children's books. This one will need a lot of additional input and conversation from the adult reading it with the kids. It's a good start, though, and it might help those adults start the conversation, too.

Thanks to NetGalley and Future Horizons for the review copy from which I've quoted.

Same book but with the song, better. I have allready reviewed this book.

This kid friendly book uses animals in the classroom to demonstrate the importance of problem solving and inclusion when working effectively with autistic children to promote learning!