Get a Bigger Wagon! - by Maureen Haddock

Small prairie towns during the 1950s supplied the right growing conditions for children with independent spirits to develop into entrepreneurs. This is one such independent spirit. These are his stories. "I have known my husband for over half a century and the Get a Bigger Wagon books chronicle his journey to manhood. The title for the first book was taken from the story The Delayed Dream.  From the moment the boy pressed his face against the shop window to get a better look at that three-speed bicycle, he planned to own it.  His little red wagon enabled him to go into business collecting bottles, and he patiently worked and saved until his dream was within his grasp. In the story, something happens to delay his dream, and he begins to develop the resilience required to be an entrepreneur.

"I have seen that little boy's disappointment in my husband's eyes when people have done business with him in a dishonourable way. It doesn't last long, though. True entrepreneurs never give up. Their dreams are never stolen, just delayed. I asked my husband what he learned from that experience. His answer was simply, 'Get a bigger wagon.'" Maureen Haddock was born into a printing family and spent much of her early childhood with her parents in their Manitoba weekly newspaper office. At the time, her parents were the youngest publishers in Manitoba.