How Do You Know What Time It Is?

January 1, 2003
Gr 2-4-This is a succinct, child-friendly history of how time came to be measured, from our early ancestors, who noted how the sun traveled across the sky, to the ancient Egyptians, who used "Shadow Stick clocks" to mark its path, through present-day quartz and atomic clocks. Wells discusses the Egyptians' lunar and solar calendars and the Roman calendar, and goes on to explain time zones, using meridian lines. Analogies such as "WITHOUT TIME PASSING BY, you couldn't play a computer game or eat a bowl of ice cream-" help children understand the concepts. The characters in the pen-and-acrylic illustrations look a bit like a cross between B.C. and Doonesbury comics; the hand-lettered text creates movement around the sometimes multiple images on a page, and the combination of art and words results in fun. A terrific teaching tool, enjoyable as a read-aloud or when read independently.-Wanda Meyers-Hines, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Huntsville, AL

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2002
Gr. 2-5. With excitement and solid fact, Wells introduces the concept of time and how we measure it. The science is complex, whether Wells is considering time zones, changing seasons, or atomic clocks; but the picture-book format, with pen and acrylic illustrations of a boy, a girl, and a dog, roots the concepts in daily experience. The historical approach--from the sundial and the ancient Roman calendar to the pendulum and then quartz crystals--provides a step-by-step introduction to the amazing technological discoveries. Wells' chatty informal style will certainly help adults talk about the concepts with children, though the exclamatory tone and punctuation in almost every sentence are unnecessary. The amazing facts say it all.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2003
The development and use of time-measuring tools--from the shadow sticks of ancient Egypt to today's atomic clocks--are described in hand-lettered text that curves and bends around cartoony pen-and-acrylic illustrations. Unfortunately, the book then introduces discussions of the moon's phases, the Earth's seasons, and the nature of time itself, topics too complex for the simple format.

(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)