Telling time

Gr 1--5--Adler and Miller's latest addition to their renowned collection of math books is a space-themed exploration of the classifications of time. Four young astronauts (two boys, two girls) plus one green alien and a couple of robots take readers on a detailed examination of the particulars of time. Using second-person narrative, the astronauts and their sidekicks explain the difference between seconds, minutes, and hours; the characteristics of analog and digital clocks and how to read them; the passage of time; and the difference between A.M. and P.M. Speech bubbles on every page add to the expository text with sometimes essential and other times incidental commentary. The digitally drawn pastel illustrations keep the mood light but don't detract from the serious business at hand. A glossary and author's note that offers further information conclude the book. VERDICT Those looking for an elementary but thorough discussion of time will find it here.--Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, MA

Frequent collaborators Adler and Miller launch another one into outer spaceliterally. His exploration accompanied by space-themed illustrations and beginning with how the day is broken into smaller unitshours, minutes, and secondsand the difference between a.m. and p.m., Adler launches into how to read the two types of clocks: analog and digital (instead of using the word "colon," the text reads that the "numbers [are] separated by two dots, one dot on top of the other"). He concentrates on explaining how to read analog, breaking the book into spreads that define "clockwise," the three hands and how long they take to travel once around the clock, telling the hour, telling the minutes, and many examples, which also add in useful vocabulary like "half past," "quarter past," and "quarter to." Backmatter includes a glossary of terms boldfaced in the main narrative and an author's note about sundials, daylight savings time, military time, and time zones (the duo tackled this topic in depth in Time Zones, 2010). Miller's crisp, colorful art features five astronauts (two present white, two have brown skin, one has green skin; two sport pigtails). Throughout, Adler brings the language and examples to kids' leveleating a cookie takes a few seconds; passing a tray of them around may take a few minutes; and baking them could take an hour or morethough the concept of a "number-stop" as the distance/time between numbers on the clock face is a bit awkward.Time to add this to collections. (Informational picture book. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.