Just a second

Steve Jenkins, 1952-

Book - 2011

Explores time and how we think about it in a different way--as a series of events in the natural world, some of them directly observable, others not.

Saved in:

Children's Room Show me where

j529/Jenkins
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room j529/Jenkins Checked In
Subjects
Published
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Books for Children 2011.
Language
English
Main Author
Steve Jenkins, 1952- (-)
Physical Description
unpaged : ill
ISBN
9780618708963
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

In his introduction Jenkins writes, Some surprising even amazing things can take place in a very short time. And, in bright two-page spreads of alternating colors, he uses torn- and cut-paper collage to illustrate the many things shocking, intriguing, hopeful, and sad that are finished in the blink of an eye. He begins with what happens in one second: A bat can make 200 high-pitched calls. A black mamba slithers a frightening 24 feet. 1,500 chickens are killed. One minute allows for even bigger accomplishments: A skydiver in free fall plunges two miles. One hour is even more impressive, and then comes one day: The world's population increases by about 215,000 people (382,000 are born and 167,000 die). Fascinating though it is, the flat presentation has the quality of a museum exhibit, and some kids may sift through it just as quickly. In short doses, though, the art is clever, and the back matter regarding the history of the universe, Earth's population, and the life span of species is pretty staggering.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Jenkins brings fresh perspective to the passage of time in a thought-provoking picture book that features his typically elegant cut-paper collages. With a particular focus on the natural world and mankind's impact on it, Jenkins lists diverse events that occur in the space of a second, a minute, an hour, and so on. In one week, a ladybug eats more than 500 aphids, while each month "The world's human population increases by about 6,556,000 people. (11,616,000 are born and 5,060,000 die)." Jenkins also covers "very quick" and "very slow" amounts of time: a fast ball reaches home plate in "less than 4/10 of a second," while in one billion years, "Earth will be too hot to support life." Back matter offers information about life spans, population growth, and Earth's history. This subtly philosophical examination of time, scale, and the mechanics of life is all but certain to leave readers reconsidering the world and their place in it. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-This is an entertaining and thought-provoking book about units of time, which may not seem like particularly captivating material until one tries to imagine a bumblebee's wings beating 200 times per second or a person standing at the equator traveling 18 miles in one minute as Earth rotates. Pretty cool, huh? Jenkins's fascinating way of looking at time is bolstered by a wide variety of examples from nature and man, and while many are simply fun, others will give somber pause, like the average use of 19 gallons of fresh water per hour for every person on Earth or the use of 200 billion sheets of letter-size paper in one day. With his trademark torn- and cut-paper collages in rich earth tones, Jenkins renders this package both eye-catching and mind-boggling. Teachers will find good jumping-off points here for math, science, and history discussions. With this browser's delight around, it's a sure bet that more than one young reader will be spotted trying to count blinks per second. (That would be seven.)-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR (c) Copyright 2011. 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.