Monkey Time

by Michael Hall, Michael Hall (Illustrator)

Overview

Can you catch a minute? A monkey chases a minute in the rainforest in this clever, funny, and informational story about the concept of time from Michael Hall, the New York Times–bestselling and acclaimed author of Red: A Crayon’s Story. An excellent choice to share during homeschooling. It's a fun way to learn basic concepts of telling time.

Monkey Time stars a silly monkey and sixty minutes, and it is perfect for fans of Mo Willems’s Waiting Is Not Easy! and anyone learning about how time passes. Look for surprises in the pictures on every page!

Meet monkey. Monkey is very curious about the brightly colored—and very tasty-looking—minutes on the minute tree in his forest. But can he catch one before it disappears?

Playful, educational, and entertaining, this brightly illustrated book reinforces simple counting skills while introducing children to basic concepts about time, how time passes, and how time is measured. With illustrations full of engaging animals and a call-and-response text, and loads of rhythm, repetition, and humor, this is a great choice for family and story-time sharing.

Includes three pages of facts reinforcing the math concepts and describing the rainforest friends introduced in the story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062383020
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/26/2019
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Michael Hall grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the creator of numerous acclaimed picture books for children, including Frankencrayon, Red: A Crayon’s Story, My Heart Is Like a Zoo, Perfect Square, and It’s an Orange Aardvark!

Michael Hall grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the creator of numerous acclaimed picture books for children, including Frankencrayon, Red: A Crayon’s Story, My Heart Is Like a Zoo, Perfect Square, and It’s an Orange Aardvark!

Editorial Reviews

12/03/2018
Hall (Little i) playfully juggles the ideas of tracking time and counting in a book that also introduces tropical rainforest animals, seen on the periphery of the pages and described in a concluding note. Hall’s trademark collages of painted and cut paper art magnify the quirky conceptual story, portraying angular Monkey at the center of a clock face, his hand chasing minutes (which resemble smiley face emojis with legs, one in a hat) around the perimeter, one minute at a time, until 60 of them appear. The feisty, fast-moving minute characters narrate the spontaneous text, challenging the “slowpoke” marsupial to chase them around the clock while taunting, “I bet you can’t catch a minute, Monkey!” When Monkey at last snags the final minute of the hour, the others must dissuade him from a peculiar impulse—eating it—before, in a wry visual pun, the minutes fly away. Monkey’s arms don’t work in the same way that two hands do on an actual clock, which may confound kids interpreting the timepiece motif literally. But a high-level introduction of temporal considerations, not true time telling, is the book’s focus, and whimsy and humor—epitomized by the exuberant minutes—take center stage. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A simple treatise on time for very young children as well as a counting book. . . .Hall’s trademark painted and cut-paper illustrations in bright green, blue, red, and yellow with brown monkey in the center are striking. . . .This entertaining story will reinforce counting skills while teaching youngsters a bit about time.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

“Hall playfully juggles the ideas of tracking time and counting in a book that also introduces tropical rainforest animals. . . .a high-level introduction of temporal considerations. . . is the book’s focus, and whimsy and humor—epitomized by the exuberant minutes—take center stage.” — Publishers Weekly

“What are you able to do with a minute? . . .A fun informational picture book introducing time to the very young.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

A simple treatise on time for very young children as well as a counting book. . . .Hall’s trademark painted and cut-paper illustrations in bright green, blue, red, and yellow with brown monkey in the center are striking. . . .This entertaining story will reinforce counting skills while teaching youngsters a bit about time.

ALA Booklist (starred review)

02/01/2019

PreS-Gr 2—Monkey is hanging out in a tree in a tropical rainforest when he is challenged to try to catch a minute. Minutes are quick, minutes are elusive, and monkey just cannot seem to catch one—until 59 minutes have sped past Monkey and finally he is able to capture one! Hooray for Monkey! What will he do with a minute? What are you able to do with a minute? As a tool for teaching about time, the book makes it clear that a clock face is divided into five minute intervals. Although there are no numbers present, the illustrations are designed to encourage counting by fives or tens. Created in collage style, the shapes of the animals and scenery are bold and easily identifiable, and the bird's-eye view of the tree graphically represents the clock face. The minutes are represented by small yellow dots with legs illustrating how quick and spunky they can be. Other rainforest animals appear, and the author provides a wonderful appendix teaching facts about habitat and behaviors. Also found in the back matter is a table that explains how time is measured. VERDICT A fun informational picture book introducing time to the very young; a good choice for most shelves.—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

School Library Journal

2018-10-15

Round and round his clocklike tree, Monkey chases minutes in this tale about telling time.

Monkey slumbers away as orange, fruitlike balls happily march up his tree. When the first awakens him, their 60-minute game begins. Twelve branches create the tree-clock's face, with Monkey in the middle. As the cheerful balls—embodied minutes—run the canopy's circumference, Monkey's arm sweeps clockwise, attempting to catch each cheeky sphere. After an hour, the minutes fly away—and 60 new merry minutes begin the game afresh. Colored or painted papers cut out and arranged to make forms create a style reminiscent of Eric Carle's. But while Carle's handmade collages mirror the natural, organic lessons of his text, Hall's digital collage is used to teach precision and time—an apt match of technique and content. As always, Hall uses design to great effect, and the simple style allows readers to focus on the growing narrative of the accumulation of minutes. Playful, number-chart endpages and rhythmic, repetitive lines for reading aloud ("Chase me over. / Chase me down. / Chase me all the way around") complete the fun.

Both simple and complex and always with humor: a worthy addition to the telling-time shelf. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews