The Book of Time - Clive Gifford - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Clive Gifford
ILLUSTRATOR: Teo Georgiev
GENRE: Children's Nonfiction
RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: Fascinating and comprehensive!


Honestly, the only reason I went for this book is the author. The title didn’t hold much appeal to me. I was almost like, ‘How can there be an entire 100-page book about time? How much can one talk about time?’ But I had read Clive Gifford’s A Quick History of Money, A Quick History of Maths, and Powered by Plants, and other than being informative, the one thing all these books had in common was their mesmerising scope. I should have known Gifford wouldn’t disappoint even this time.

Think of everything you can that’s connected to time. When I asked myself the same question, I couldn’t go much beyond the basics: time divisions (hours, minutes, days, months, years, dates), clocks, time zones, daylight savings time, and other such fundamental points. The book goes so much beyond this tiny list, expounding on topics right from cosmic time to nanoseconds, seasonal changes and planetary orbits, global calendars and cultural differences in time/date calculations, internal body clocks and extra-worldly GPS satellites, whimsical alarms and odd lifespans, animals’ abilities wrt time… No matter what aspect of time you can think of, it is covered in this book. I am so awed by how meticulously and comprehensively the content has been researched and written.

The above information is presented in a logical flow, with every page full of informative text blocks and filled with detailed illustrations. This is the kind of book that is better read physically than digitally as the information can seem quite cramped otherwise.

The book is aimed at middle graders, and the language as well as content will work perfectly for this age group. The book can be a great learning aid at home as well as in classrooms and libraries.

Definitely worth your time.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Book of Time”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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