LITTLE CARNIVAL 03 • AGES 0–2 • BOARD-BOOK MANUSCRIPT PREVIEW

STOP,
GO,
WAIT!

Patience and Impatience ride the twin carnival buses through three tiny ideas toddlers meet every day: stop, go and wait.

Age-band production: written specifically for ages 0–2 with giant visual actions, repetition and 0–15 words per page. Total story text is intentionally sparse so the faces, hands, wheels and caregiver interaction carry most of the meaning.

PAGE 01
Bus goes.
GO, GO!
ART: Positive-crew bus rolling gently. Patience waves from the window. Large green motion arrow.
PAGE 02
Bus stops.
STOP.
ART: Bus at a bright carnival gate. Big red hand icon. No traffic imagery needed.
PAGE 03
Patience waits.
ART: Patience sits with relaxed hands. Gate is still closed. Face calm but alert.
PAGE 04
Impatience wiggles.
Wiggle, wiggle!
ART: Challenge-crew bus beside first bus. Impatience wiggles feet and shoulders; playful motion lines.
PAGE 05
“Now?”
Not yet.
ART: Impatience points to gate; Patience points to closed sign. Faces clear and simple.
PAGE 06
Tap, tap.
Clap, clap.
ART: Waiting game with hands. Caregiver prompt icon invites child to copy.
PAGE 07
Look!
Lights blink.
ART: Carnival bulbs blink one by one. Patience and Impatience both notice.
PAGE 08
Gate opens.
GO!
ART: Gate lifts. Both buses begin moving together. Big forward arrow.
PAGE 09
Round and round.
ART: Buses circle a carnival roundabout slowly; circular motion arrow.
PAGE 10
STOP.
ART: Both buses stop at the next ride. Patience smiles. Impatience makes a funny surprised face.
PAGE 11
Wait together.
ART: Patience and Impatience sit side by side on a bench; neither emotion is shown as “bad.”
PAGE 12
Ready?
GO!
ART: Final joyful spread. Twin buses head into carnival lights. Caregiver prompt: “Can you say STOP, WAIT, GO?”

Front-cover treatment

Two buses nose-to-nose at a carnival gate. Patience sits still with hands folded; Impatience wiggles dramatically. Huge title words STOP / GO / WAIT use sign-like shapes without resembling road-safety branding.

Back-cover treatment

Three giant icons: stop hand, waiting hands, moving wheel. Copy: “Little ones practise three everyday action words with Patience and Impatience—plus tapping, clapping and lots of going again.”

Learning layer

Core concepts: action-word recognition, turn-taking language, “not yet” as different from “no,” imitation and simple waiting games. No claim that toddlers should suppress impatience; the story gives it movement and company.

Character continuity

Patience belongs to the 11-member positive crew; Impatience belongs to the 11-member challenge crew. Both keep their established bus affiliation and are treated as recurring personalities, not one-off teaching symbols.

PREVIEW — NOT PRINT-READY: complete ages 0–2 board-book manuscript and visual specification. Final character art, board-book trim/layout, proofing, metadata and release QA remain required before retail publication.