Informational Picture Book: At the Same Moment Around the World

Title: At the Same Moment Around the World
Author: Clotilde Perrin
Publication: 2011

When I first saw this book, it immediately caught my eye because instead of being wide it is taller in height and shorter in length. So it was cool because it was different, in the first place. But then when I actually started reading it...I loved it even more!!

Basically, Perrin takes us around the world in different time zones and presents a different narrative for each one. She starts every page with, "At the same moment..." but then tells the one hour time difference following, on each page. She lists a different part of the world on each page and gives us an example with a name that coincides with that country's culture and some kind of situation that relates as well. Here is an example of two pages,

"At the same moment, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, it is eleven o'clock in the morning, and Ravshan and Yuliya return from their visit to a nearby market."

"At the same moment, in the Himalayan Mountains near the towering Mount Everest, it is noon, and Lilu eats lunch with her mother."

Here is the page from the example above.

One of the more artistic parts about the pages is that the illustrator makes the two different countries' pictures blend together at the seam of the page. So for example, with the page above in quotes, the little village of Uzbekistan becomes the Himalayan Mountains. At first glance, you would think it's the same place, but after reading it, one realizes that the illustrator has woven the pictures together perfectly to show how our world is united even though we have different time zones. Each page represents an hour hand on the clock and the book in total mimics a clock: as time ticks on, one hour become the next at a gradual pace.

Lastly, my favorite part about this book is that it has a teaching quality about it, buttttt an interesting narrative. I would love to use this in a social studies unit. Where, I would have each student pick one of the places from the book (maybe with a partner or two). They would research it and do a presentation on it. Then on my bulletin board, I would create a circle that looks like a clock and have each country on each hour that it represents. I think this would be a great way for kids to learn about other countries and culture, while tying it into this book.

 One of my favorite pages from the book. Vietnam becomes China.