Clotilde Perrin

One of the strongest "concept" picture books I've ever read, At the Same Moment presents the concept of time zones by taking a trip around the world, starting in Dakar, Senegal at 6am and moving eastward. Both children and adults are pictured, and their activities are both unique and mundane: counting a catch of fish, watching construction workers erect a building, chasing after a school bus, a baby being born. Back matter includes "about time zones" (early timekeeping, the invention of time zones, accurate timekeeping) and a fantastic fold-out map (perhaps the reason for the book's unusually tall and narrow trim size?) showing an illustration of the world map, with little dotted lines leading to the top and bottom, indicating where each named character is located (e.g. Pablo, Mexico City, Mexico, and Keiko, Tokyo, Japan). Truly a unique book - a real gem.

See also: If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall… (more)

I like this book for two reasons. First, the plot of the book changes with the story, the book starts out in Dakar, Senegal and changes to different countries around the world that are in the same moment in time. Another reason why I like this book is because of the illustrations, throughout the book the pictures showed what the other countries looked liked and what some of the people in those countries could be doing. For example, in the book it says “ At the same moment , near Tokyo, Japan, it is three o’clock in the afternoon, and Keiko admires the koinobori , or carp streamers, blowing in the wind.” The illustration that goes with this sentence shows a child admiring the kinobori that is blowing in the wind. The main purpose of the book is to educate students about places around the world.… (more)