Review by Booklist Review
The nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock gets new life as it goes through 12 hours of the day. It begins when a mouse runs down the clock as it strikes 1: It's time for fun! As each hour chimes, another creature appears, often completing an action initiated in the previous spread. For instance, a bear stops by the clock, and as the chimes strike 10, it's off to its den. Children turning the page will see only the bear's bum as the creature waddles off stage, while a whole new bit of action, featuring a horse grazing near the clock, takes up most of the spread. The design is spare. The pages are mostly empty, dominated by a traditional grandfather clock and the various romping animals. As the day passes, the sky, which comprises the background, turns from sapphire blue to a star-twinkling gray, decorated with a smiling moon. With a bouncy, easy-to-enjoy text and child-appealing collage-style pictures, this is a book that will work well one-on-one or with groups. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Using rhyming, rhythmic language, Baker expands the traditional nursery rhyme into an around-the-clock adventure. The story begins as a small rodent scurries up to a grandfather clock standing in a field: "Hickory/dickory/dock,/the mouse/ran up/the clock./The clock/struck one-/it's time for fun!" As the timepiece marks each hour, another creature-a bird, a snake, a rabbit, etc.-interacts with it, and then takes off to follow its own pursuits: "Hickory/dickory/dock,/a pig/oinked at/the clock./Seven/was struck-/he rolled in muck!" Finally, at midnight, the mouse hurries off to bed beneath a star-filled sky. The short stanzas make this tale appealing to beginning readers as well as a good read-aloud for small children. Large, bold illustrations done in Adobe Photoshop capture the whimsy of the text and will hold the attention of the youngest listeners. The boldly delineated clock face, with hands pointing clearly to each hour, may also help with basic time-telling skills. A useful and fun selection.-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When the mouse runs up the clock at one, ""it's time for fun."" Mouse entertains himself by watching a different animal go by as the hours tick away. New verses hold fast to the original rhythm and meter. Each cleanly designed, digitally illustrated double-page spread features an expansive blue sky, thin strip of green grass, and large-face grandfather clock. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The familiar nursery rhyme gains new verses in this latest from Baker, who rounds out the rest of the mouse's busy hours. When the clock strikes one, "it's time for fun." The little mouse echoes the actions of the many creatures that come by to interact with the clock: He sings along with the serenading bird; flies an airplane alongside the buzzing bees; and investigates the nibble marks inflicted on the clock by a hungry porcupine. Following the rhyme and rhythm scheme of the original perfectly, Baker gets around the difficulties of rhyming seven and eleven by changing the word order: "seven was struck." The illustrations become increasingly somnambulistic as the hours creep toward midnight, when the moon wishes the mouse goodnight and sees him safely tucked into his bed. A great addition to the collection of "singing" books, with the added bonus of helping readers practice counting and time-telling skills. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
