- Non-Fiction
- Ages 5–8
- Nature
Patience... (A Slow Down Book)
Book 2 in Slow DownView the full series
A calm, beautifully illustrated antidote to an instant world, showing across eighteen spans of time - from a single minute to over a century - how good things take time and there is a season for everything.
- Best for5–8
- FormatNon-fiction
- Length80 pp
- Read aloud~32 min
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Lyrical
- Literary
Tone
- Gentle
- Warm
- Thought provoking
- Inspirational
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
In a world of instant everything, Patience is a gentle reminder that the best things are worth waiting for. Rachel Williams travels across eighteen different spans of time - from a single minute to more than a hundred years - to reveal the quiet processes unfolding in plants, animals and people. In one minute your heart beats over a hundred times; in a day a dragonfly unfurls its wings; across a season a bear sleeps through winter; over more than eighty years a human being lives a whole life. Leonie Lord's warm, spacious illustrations give each moment room to breathe, and the accurate, unhurried text turns waiting into wonder. Companion to the million-copy bestseller Slow Down, this is a soothing, thoughtful hardback that helps children understand that everything has its time and place - and makes a lovely conversation starter about growing, changing and the value of not rushing.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Best fit is 5-8, working read aloud from around 4 and independently from 6-9 for readers who enjoy lingering over illustrations. Its reflective take on time gives it real appeal for the adult reading alongside.
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- Best fit · 5–8
- Read aloud · 4–8
- Independent · 6–9
Prose load
Light
Visual support
High
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Gift-buying
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Mindfulness
- Nature lovers
- Gift book
- Discussion starter
- Curious children
Avoid if
- Wants fast paced plot
- Prefers fiction only
Particularly good for children who are…
- Anxiety and worry
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
You get to see how long things really take - a heartbeat in a minute, a dragonfly's wings in a day, a whole bear's winter sleep across a season. The pictures are calm and full of small details to spot, and it makes waiting feel like part of the wonder rather than something to hurry past.
- Cosy safety
Why parents love it
A calm, accurate companion to Slow Down that reframes patience as wonder rather than a lesson. Leonie Lord's artwork is lovely, the science is sound, and it opens up easy conversations about growing, waiting and change - a giftable hardback that suits quiet, end-of-day reading.
- Beautiful illustrations
- Conversation starter
- Educational for adult too
- Bedtime appropriate
In the series
Slow Down.
3 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
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Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
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