Book review: Worth Waiting For

Wednesday 2nd April 2025

A book cover showing illustrated children, with insets of illustrations

Members of the STAMMA volunteer review team tell us what they think of Worth Waiting For: A colouring book for the stuttering community by Ryan Cowley.

This new book by American author Ryan, is a 48-page collection of illustrations underneath positive and awareness-raising phrases around stammering to colour in. At the end, there's a list of quotes that Ryan has gathered from those in the stammering community too, and it's aimed at people who stammer of any age.

Here's what our reviewers thought...

Mishka Singh, parent

I showed Worth Waiting For to my children and they both busily coloured in the pages. My son (aged 7) especially liked the 'I stutter. What's your superpower?' one, and my daughter (age 3) did 'Rock your stutter!'. It definitely got my son talking about stammering, and he asked me all about it, so it can open the conversation. We had a lovely chat about how he wears hearing aids and an eye patch, and how that can actually be a superpower. So I think this is a great idea!

I also really appreciate the diversity in the representation of different ethnicities/cultural backgrounds, as well as including people in wheelchairs. My only criticism is that the pictures are AI generated, which the author states, and are maybe not as soulful as other colouring books I've seen. But I just asked my son what he thinks of the pictures and he said they were good. Having seen their completed pictures (see below), I don't really think that matters too much. Coloured in, I think they are great!

Overall, I hope the book empowers children and helps them to know that stammering doesn't have to be seen as a negative if they feel that way.

Two pages from a colouring in book, which have been coloured in

Pages from Worth Waiting For, coloured in by Rmishka's children

John Russell, adult who stammers

Ryan Cowley has produced a fun, interactive, educational and motivational colouring book. It is full of pictures of seemingly happy and confident-looking young people, at ease with what they are communicating to their peers. I hope those going through the book will aspire to be one of the happy, relaxed and confident-looking people illustrated.

'We have a voice'. 'I stutter, so what!' and 'Speak freely, not fluently' are just a few examples of the reassuring slogans to show that there is more to a person than just having a stammer. 'I need patience', 'Don't Interrupt me' and 'Don't ever stop me talking' are good educational pointers about stammering too, valuable for anyone with an interest in stammering or speech development.

Overall it's an excellent book with thought-provoking quotes to inspire, raise stammering awareness and break down misconceptions.

Title

The story behind the book

The author Ryan Cowley told us about his idea for the book:

"Back in 2018, my wife and I were out shopping and we saw some colouring books that we bought as gag gifts for ourselves and nothing more. Little did we know how relaxing and therapeutic they were. I had written a few books but wanted to create something that was fun and interactive. Then, it came to me: a colouring book about stuttering!

'I brainstormed phrases that are familiar to the stuttering community and after a few days I had 20 different phrases with images (all created via AI) and it was just a lot of fun creating it. I do hope both children and adults have fun with my book and be inspired along the way."

Views from speech & language therapists (SLTs)

Amanda Ortiz-Alvarez, SLT

From start to finish, Worth Waiting For shares a series of thoughtful, empowering and stammer-affirming messages. As a speech & language therapist, I especially appreciated seeing how each quote came from children and adults who are themselves a part of the stammering community.

Taken together, each page helps create a broader view of stammering that can allow people who stammer to explore what speaking freely means to them, as they engage with unique insights, encouragement and words of wisdom from a list of contributors.

Overall, this book can provide people who stammer with a creative outlet and space to explore their own experiences with stammering in meaningful ways.

Katherine Brown, SLT

Worth Waiting For has been written as a mindfulness resource for children and adults in the stammering community. Studies show that colouring can be an excellent mindfulness tool; focusing the mind and being immersed in a task allows us to enter a state of flow relaxation and reduces anxiety.

The illustrations in the book are very simple and generally feature the top-half of a smiling cartoon character, most of the time a child. The scope for colouring, therefore, is somewhat limited, and older children or adults using this resource may be left slightly wanting. The AI pictures are stylistically rather inconsistent, making the book feel a little disjointed. I feel a carefully curated selection of more detailed images, eg beautiful nature scenes or intricate abstract patterns, would elevate this book by offering greater opportunity for colouring, and would also widen the book's appeal.

From a speech & language therapy point of view, there are certainly benefits to positive reinforcement in the form of focusing on affirmative phrases. Presenting positive messages about stammering can encourage a helpful mindset. In this age of information accessibility, perhaps a broader range of stammering-specific quotes would add quality, interest and depth to the book.

New resources for the stammering community are to be celebrated. They bring attention and momentum, and provide further support for individuals. In addition, resources often build upon each other like stepping stones, leading to a best end product. In the same way, this colouring book could be a useful therapeutic tool for individuals who stammer, offering mindfulness through creativity and providing fortifying affirmations along the way. First, the book could do with some adaptations to help it reach its potential, but in the end, it really could be Worth Waiting For.

Worth Waiting For: A colouring book for the stuttering community is a self-published book by Ryan Cowley and is available to buy on Amazon.

Read more book reviews.