The Clock Struck One: A Time-Telling Tale

by Trudy Harris, Carrie Hartman (Illustrator)

Overview

When the clock strikes one, a fun-loving mouse runs up the clock. But what happens when the clock strikes two? A cat gets hungry for mouse-tail stew . . . and the chase is on! Hour by hour, more animals—and even a few people—join in. The crowd charges into the barnyard, dashes through the kitchen, and eventually heads right into the middle of town. Keep your eye on the many clocks in this book and follow along until this twelve-hour race comes to a surprising end!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765650516
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Series:	Math Is Fun!
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Trudy Harris writes books that both educate and entertain. She has written a number of successful math concept books, including: Pattern Bugs, 20 Hungry Piggies, Jenny Found a Penny,  The Clock Struck One, and Tally Cat Keeps Track. Trudy loves reading picture books to her grandchildren and to her elementary students in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Carrie Hartman grew up knowing she would illustrate picture books some day. Her school and local library were her favorite places to be when she was young. She graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with her degree in Illustration. Carrie’s illustration work can be seen nationally and internationally in: picture books, editorial publications, animated projects, advertising, greeting cards, and much more. Carrie finds that working on picture books is very special. Having children tell her that one of her picture books is the book they have their parents read it to them every night before bed is the biggest honor that she could hope for. Carrie teaches in the illustration department at MCAD. She freelances from her studio and is currently writing her own picture books.

Editorial Reviews

Part of the Math Is Fun! series, this intro to telling time has a familiar beginning (“Hickory dickory dock,/ a mouse ran up the clock”), but things soon take a dramatic turn. When the clock strikes two, a farm cat awakens and pursues the mouse, and additional barnyard animals (as well as a family of farmers) join the chase each hour. Just when things have calmed down (“Hickory dickory dell,/ by midnight, all was well”), the clock strikes one once more, and it looks like the chase may begin again. A concluding note offers some time-telling basics. Ages 5–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2—A playful expansion of "Hickory, Dickory Dock," this picture book centers around the concept of a cat chasing a mouse through the hours of a day. "Hickory dickory doo, the grandfather clock struck TWO./It woke the cat, who sprang from his mat,/hungry for mouse-tail stew," and the race is on. Some of the rhyming verses are awkwardly constructed ("Hickory dickory date,/at EIGHT, they ran through the gate./The farmer's son/said, 'That looks fun./I'm coming too. So wait!'"). Expressive mixed-media illustrations display a gleeful mouse swinging on the clock chimes while a sleepy feline dozes on a nearby rug, and then highlight the ensuing chaos as other animals and people join the pursuit. The ending shows a very tired mouse and cat catching their breath as the clock strikes one in the morning. A thoughtful afterword offers a two-page explanation about the difference between digital and analog clocks and how to tell time, and challenges readers to find the various clocks featured in the illustrations (e.g., a cuckoo clock, a pocket watch, and a digital stove clock). Keith Baker's Hickory Dickory Dock (Harcourt, 2007) is a better constructed albeit calmer rendition of the nursery rhyme.—Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA

School Library Journal

Harris's latest math-concept book (Splitting the Herd, 2008, etc.) expands "Hickory Dickory Dock" into a 12-hour romp throughout the farm. The mouse's problem? Why, the cat, of course. "Hickory dickory doo, the grandfather clock struck TWO. / It woke the cat, who sprang from his mat, / hungry for mouse-tail stew." And so the chase begins. Each turn of the page reveals that another hour has passed and another member has joined the pursuit. Readers can track the time on the diverse clocks-from cuckoo and grandfather to church tower and digital. Scanning well, this would work well for read-alouds, although the smallish trim size will limit the size of the group. Backmatter includes some facts about clocks and teaches children how to tell time by the hour on both digital and analog clocks. Hartman's characters are full of personality-the cat is high-and-mighty while the dog is just plain loopy. Her colors reflect the passing of the day, getting increasingly darker as the sun disappears and the characters become sleepier. With its emphasis on the hours, this has great potential for the youngest audiences. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews