Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 2-5. The author-illustrator of Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press 0 (2003) now presents an introduction to time and the history of timekeeping. The discussion begins with the meanings of terms such as day0 , month0 , and year0 and the development of the calendar in Western civilization. After explaining the use of early devices for marking time, such as sundials, water clocks, and hourglasses, the book traces the advancing technology of mechanical clocks from the thirteenth century onward and briefly explains twentieth-century advances such as quartz and atomic clocks. The ending briefly acknowledges three theories of time, from the ancient Greeks to Einstein. Brightening every page is watercolor artwork: clear diagrams of astronomical relationships, stylized historical scenes, sketchy (occasionally awkward) portrayals of people, and excellent pictures of clock mechanisms, which, in conjunction with the text, enlighten readers as to how the "workings" actually work. Students beyond the "telling time" stage will find this an attractive introduction to the broader subject of time. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Describing the concept of time and how it has been measured, Koscielniak gives an instructive yet entertaining march through the ages. A two-page explanation of daytime versus nighttime, as well as the seasons, sets the stage for the beginning of timekeeping and the origins of the Gregorian calendar. The author provides just enough detail for readers to understand how sundials and water clocks work and to comprehend the problems with their accuracy. Attractive watercolor illustrations in green and tan tones enhance the text. Detailed diagrams further explain such concepts as Huygens's balance spring, which later developed into the portable watch. Endpapers show various timepieces through the ages from an Egyptian shadow clock in 1500 B.C. to electric clocks in A.D. 2000. Children will be entertained as well as informed by this presentation.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA (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
Koscielniak focuses his impressive history of timekeeping on clock technologies developed over centuries. He starts with the employment of natural events; moves to the design of sundials, water clocks, and mechanical clocks; and ends with today's use of crystals and atoms to keep time in increasingly smaller increments. The loose watercolors have an amateurish quality except when portraying the detailed schematics of various clocks. (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
Mechanically minded children willing to follow Koscielniak through this quick history of calendars and clocks will find the time well spent. Though he begins with the sun, seasons, and solar and lunar calendars (not ancient American ones, however), he focuses most closely on how clocks have used shadows and sand, water, weights, springs, electricity, and, finally, atomic vibrations, to measure out increasingly finer gradations. Of what, he declines to discuss, aside from passing references to Ancient Greeks, St. Augustine, Einstein, and unspecified modern ideas. His watercolor depictions of various clockworks are unusually lucid, though, and well-explained, making this an adequate alternative to Anita Ganeri's Story of Time and Clocks (1997) or Trent Duffy's The Clock (2000). (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
