Cover Image: Not ’Til Tomorrow, Phoebe

Not ’Til Tomorrow, Phoebe

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Member Reviews

What could be more frustrating than being told that what you want to do NOW has to wait? Zwillich has created a title that young readers will readily understand and follows Phoebe as she hears she has to wait until tomorrow over and over again. Holmes' artwork cleverly depicts a rapidly melting down Phoebe's (arms crossed, face with a frown) until Grandma comes to the rescue with her mention of a secret ingredient in her cookies that could turn that frown upside down. Equal parts love and problem solving, the book is great read with room to discuss strategies for patience. Here's hoping there's more from this duo.

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No ‘Til Tomorrow, Phoebe is a cute book for teaching patience and waiting. It’s a hard skill for children (and even most adults) and this book is a great way to introduce and reinforce the importance of waiting in a lighthearted way.

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Not ‘Til Tomorrow, Phoebe by Julie Zwilich, illustrated by Denise Holmes and published by OwlKids Publishing is a super cute little story about waiting. Waiting is so, so hard and Phoebe is having a really hard time. Everyone keeps telling her tomorrow will be when she gets to have pancakes, a haircut or watch some musicians at school. Phoebe is so frustrated with the word tomorrow! When Grammy explains the secret ingredient to waiting, she comes to terms with the word tomorrow.

This is the perfect little story to help your little one cope with waiting and to let them know that waiting is not easy for anyone. There are some very cute, very typical moments in the story like when Phoebe is kicking the back of her mom’s seat. Everyone, parents and children, will be able to relate to Phoebe’s feelings and will be able to see their own feelings reflected back. The illustrations are fantastic, from the adorable collage style end papers to the upside down picture of Grammy from Phoebe’s perspective, this book is sure to be a staple in many early years classrooms and homes.

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Such an adorable book! Phoebe gets irritated when everyone tells her all the fun things have to wait until tomorrow.
Finally her grandmother helps her find the secret ingredients to turn today into tomorrow. A fun book to help young children understand time.

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This is a perfect book to read to any child who doesn’t want to wait. Author Julie Zwillich took a simple concept of time and spun a sweet tale about how frustrated Phobia becomes when she has to wait. I can see this book being very popular in my classroom. All children become frustrated with the daily things that they cannot control. The end of the story reveals to readers the secret to waiting. The illustrations in this story are sweet and detailed. I am looking forward to sharing this story with my students.

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Who CAN'T relate to being impatient?? Phoebe demonstrates a range of emotions when told that she has to wait for things she looks forward to. This book affirms that it is okay to feel angry, impatient, or sad when waiting for something. We get to make our choices in the meantime of how we act.

Highly recommend this read.

I received an advance read copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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So glad someone put this cute idea down in writing

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A great book to explore the frustration of waiting from a kids perspective. The illustrations are great (love the upside down ones). and this is a very inclusive book of a variety of different types of people without being about the differences.

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Not' Til Tomorrow , Phoebe was a bed time read for my family. Julie Zwillich gave a pretty good lesson on time and patients it is aimed for the 6-8 range so my younger daughter who is 2 didn't really get the concept and the illustrations were not her cup of tea. I did give it 3 stars due to that, however my son did get the concept of the story which was fantastic. I will be recommending to the counselor here at my elementary school she would love this to read to her students.

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Cute book with a story that every child can relate to. Phoebe is frustrated waiting for all the good things that are supposed to be coming "tomorrow" because every single thing she wants is always a day away. When she visits her grandma, she is given a coping skill that will make it a little easier to be patient while also providing perspective. The illustrations are nice. One of the best things about them is that they offer a diverse cast of different nationalities and include handicapable people. This is a good title to add to the library collection. Every child should get to read a book that they can see themselves represented in.

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Phoebe learns that while it can be tough waiting for tomorrows, with a little patience they become todays.

I enjoyed this quick little book centering around Phoebe, an inpatient little girl who grows quickly frustrated by everyone putting things off until tomorrow—her pancakes, music, duck duck goose, and more. She is taught a little lesson in patience by her grandmother, with the pretty awesome advice that if you take a tomorrow and add a good night's sleep to it, when you wake up it becomes today. Pretty relevant even for adults.

While I enjoyed the vivid and colorful illustrations (I loved the upside down pictures), the happy, families depicted, and the quick text, there was something missing that I can't put a finger on. Regardless, it's a cute book with a good lesson about delaying gratification.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

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I recently read Phoebe Sounds It Out with my daughter who is in kindergarten so we sound out words every night! When I saw the second Phoebe book I was very excited! I enjoyed reading, Not 'Til Tomorrow, Phoebe! Phoebe, like most children has a hard time waiting, and the concept of tomorrow seems too far away! Phoebe wonders throughout the book, why everything fun has to wait until tomorrow!! Phones Grammy holds the key and the secret ingredients to helping Phoebe with her waiting issue. This book is perfect for young children who are learning the days of the week and prefect for teaching children about patience. Phones is cute, funny and lovable! I love that the book features an African-American little girl, as it is very important that all young children are able to read books that reflect themselves! Zwillich's books address issues common and relevant to all children in a fun way! I look forward to reading more books in this series!

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The second book in the Phoebe series (the first, Phoebe Sounds It Out, was published in March 2017) introduces kids to the concepts of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and just as importantly, patience. Phoebe's day is full of "tomorrows": Mama will make her pancakes tomorrow; she'll get ice cream after her haircut tomorrow; musicians will visit her class - you guessed it - tomorrow. Frustrated, Phoebe turns to her grandmother, who bakes cookies and teaches Phoebe the best way to turn today into tomorrow: get a good night's sleep. Kids will understand Phoebe's frustration, for sure; you can even introduce the story by asking kids, "Who's tired of hearing about all the good things that will happen TOMORROW?" As with Phoebe Sounds It Out, the illustrations are bold and expressive, with soothing colors to put kids in the mind to listen and learn. There's a lovely relationship between grandparent and grandchild here. Phoebe is a child of color.

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Like many children, Phoebe gets so excited about things that will happen tomorrow that she begins to dislike the word tomorrow.  After all, she doesn’t get pancakes until tomorrow, a haircut will be tomorrow and musicians will visit her school tomorrow. It seems like tomorrow will never come. She visits her grammy who shares a secret ingredient that might help with Phoebe’s problem of waiting for tomorrow.

Cons: At one point Phoebe tells her mom “tomorrow” when Mom asks her to stop kicking the back of her car seat. Obviously, she is not understanding the concept of tomorrow, but lashing out with some anger. So I had trouble with Grammy basically fixing everything with her thoughts about a secret ingredient. Phoebe really does nothing to work out her problem except to like Grammy’s idea.

Pros: Overall, this book can open talks about how hard it is to wait and would Grammy’s secret ingredient work or can other ideas work as well?

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Phoebe keeps getting told that things will happen tomorrow. She will get her hair cut tomorrow. She can have pancakes tomorrow. Everytime she wants something she has to wait until tomorrow, and she has grown impatient. It will take grandma to show her how tomorrow can become today, and how today's become yesterdays. It’s a sweet story, but a little long.

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Waiting takes patience and when everything Phoebe wants now is happening tomorrow, it feels impossible until the wisest one of all whispers the secret ingredient that transforms today into tomorrow in the most delightful way.

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Not 'Til Tomorrow, Phoebe is a sweet story about a little girl who is frustrated that all the fun things always seem to happen "tomorrow." Her grandmother shares a trick for turning the tomorrows into todays and Phoebe starts to feel better. A great story for those impatient little ones who are learning to understand how time and days work.

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The text was appropriate and sweet but there were no illustrations in my copy. Without illustrations I can only give this 3 stars.

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This was a good book to teach kids about patience. I liked the story and the illustrations.

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Phoebe does not like to wait, and is tired of hearing "tomorrow" when she wants things right away.

A great little story which teaches kids patience and enjoying the time while waiting for 'tomorrow'. My 3 years old twin girls really liked it and after reading it to them twice, I can see they notice now when they become impatient, and remind each other to "have fun while waiting".

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