"The Day Time Stopped" & "Where Is Everyone?" from Prestel Junior International

The Day Time Stopped by Flavia Ruotolo (October 2021; ISBN: 978-3791374895; Hardcover $14.95; Ages 5+; 48 pages)

My thoughts:  Actually, this isn't a book about time standing still but simply the concept of what happens in one moment in time around the World. The picture book takes the reader to places across the Globe that is Planet Earth and what someone is doing in that spot on Earth at the same moment in time that the initial character is licking a popsicle.

In a simply shown story in text and pictures the reality of time zones and what can happen in each of the time zones is presented. You're not actually aware that this is what is taking place, because this concept is foreign to a young child. But you see what can be happening.

The last couple of pages, explain why it is not the same time all around the globe. This presents a grand opportunity to explain "time" to a young child.

About the book: One afternoon in Italy, a little girl is about to take a bite of her delicious popsicle when time . . . stops. At that very moment, across the planet, people and animals are frozen in action— captured by this book’s warm, quirky illustrations and clever, time-stamped captions. A penguin hatches in South Georgia; a little girl gets a haircut in Brazil; a family sits down to breakfast in California; a tiger falls asleep in Bangladesh; a boy’s football ball gets stuck in a tree in Cape Verde. The sheer enormity of planet Earth can be impossible for young kids to grasp. Here, in this playful introduction to time zones, hemispheres, and life in different climates, kids will identify with all the ordinary things going on at the same time in our extraordinary world

Where is Everyone? by Tom Schamp (September 2021; ISBN: 978-3-7913-7450-5; Hardcover $14.95; Ages 2+; 14 pages)

My thoughts: Each page has a lift-the-flap to discover who is behind the flap. These are different from the usual behind-the-flap items seen in kiddie books. The humps along the back of the couch hid the humps of the camel. In the cold of the 'fridge hides a Polar Bear.

Kiddies will delight in lifting the flap as the book is read to them and discovering what is behind the flap but also they will have their imagination stimulated a bit.

Originally published as a Danish book, it bodes well for introducing it to young English kiddies. 

About the book: A toaster, a refrigerator, a sink, a bed, a car. Most kids can recognize these and other things that are part of their everyday lives. Leave it to Tom Schamp to imagine a different way of seeing them. As kids pore over these brightly colored and highly detailed pictures they’ll be delighted to discover a monkey on a surfboard and an elephant in a bowler hat— all inhabiting the same shapes they recognize in their homes. Each whimsical illustration offers a chance to explore, discuss, and giggle at the unexpected. Every page will encourage kids to think creatively and differently about the world around them and the possibilities that lie hidden in the things we see every day.

I received complimentary copies to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.