TIME IS A FLOWER
By Julie Morstad

THE DAY TIME STOPPED
1 Minute — 26 Countries
By Flavia Ruotolo

THE VOLUME
By Luis Camnitzer

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS AND WILL BE SO MUCH MORE
By Johanna Schaible

The concept of time can confound even intelligent grown-ups. The thinking adult may wonder, If I find a concept befuddling, can a child ever hope to understand it? Well, yes. Children are natural philosophers. Their minds are flexible, their observational powers are keen and their attentions are driven by curiosity about the world around them. It’s a humbling truth, but your average kid will outshine your average adult when it comes to contemplating your average mystery of the universe. Time, then, is good grist for a picture book.

We’re in sure hands with Julie Morstad, one of the most gifted artists making picture books today. Her latest, “Time Is a Flower,” opens with a two-page spread that shows an inquisitive child gazing up at a cuckoo clock. The text on the verso constructs a working definition of time that is clear, concise and lovely: “Time is the tock tick tock / of the / clock / and / numbers and words / on a calendar.” Then on the recto the book opens up a trapdoor: “But what else is time?” The question propels us through a gorgeous, lively meditation on time’s many facets.

It’s remarkable how much territory this book covers: geologic time, time zones, our perception of time, time’s effect on the body, the bake time for a loaf of bread. Morstad grounds heady concepts in the observable world — flowers and butterflies serve as biological clocks — and in a child’s experience.

There is a poignant depiction of a timeout: A redhead with pigtails sulks on a stool, tiny against a background of solid black. “Time is / staying in there / to think about what you did. / Maybe you didn’t / mean to?”

Morstad takes kids seriously, which makes her the only kind of adult worth listening to. She’s also a master of picture book craft. She marshals the tools the art form has put at her disposal — composition, color, text and image — to create a …….

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/books/review/julie-morstad-time-is-a-flower.html