The Time Time Stopped

by Don Gillmor

An awesome adventure about a boy who makes time stop ― or so he thinks. Ten-year-old Tristan Burberry has endured many hours of unpleasantness lately. Time spent pinned under the disapproving gaze of his new teacher, time spent trudging through the mall after his older sister, and time spent sitting with the school bully on the bus. Tristan hates time. So he makes it stop. Or so he thinks... When the world comes to a confused standstill, Tristan thinks it's his fault. In actual fact, time has stopped because the Time Keeper, who has been making time for centuries, has quit, fed up with people's lack of appreciation. Then, unfortunately, the Time Keeper gets kidnapped by the nefarious Time Bandits. Tristan, along with his sister Bella, sets out on a long and complicated journey to find him, hoping to get time back. In the tradition of Roald Dahl, The Time Time Stopped is a funny and far-fetched adventure. With wonderful illustrations by Ashley Spires throughout, readers will love this whimsical look at one of the central preoccupations of our time.

Genres: Middle Grade, Canada

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Author and journalist Don Gillmor was born in Fort Frances, Ontario in 1959 and presently lives in Toronto, Ontario. Don possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Calgary. He has worked for publisher John Wiley & Sons, and has written for a number of magazines including Rolling Stone, GQ, Premiere, and Saturday Night.; where he was made a contributing editor in 1989.

Reviews

[Russell_tacos · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is time? Is it fast is it slow, is it a concept is it an object? Well its none of those. When Tristan moves to a new place he wants to visit the zoo but his parents are never around. He doesn't have any friends because he is the new kid but the bully starts to pick on him. One day he screams I HATE TIME
and suddenly time stops. He finally gets to go to the zoo but his sister Bella quickly comes to find Him. They soon figure out that there is a man called the Time Keeper who quit his job and they have to go find him.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might give this book 2.5 stars. It is an interesting idea, but it didn't scintillate me. Mostly it felt dark and depressing. Tristan's school experiences were about as negative as they can get. The only kid who will have anything to do with him is a bully and his teachers are incompetent at best. The siblings' relationship was over the top nasty to begin with, and then turned around without any sense. There were some very clever moments, but over all I just didn't care about the characters or what happened to them.

[CanadianReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

To base a children's novel around the concept of time was a terrific idea, but unfortunately the idea is not fully realized. The characters and plot could have been much more dynamic. None of the characters quite comes alive. The Time Keeper himself is bland, and even the Time Thief and Time Bandits who hold the Keeper hostage are not the villains they could be. I was disappointed in the book, though the author's points about time providing structure and meaning for our existence do come across fairly well.

[Yolanda Ridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third person omniscient - alternating points of view.

[Saarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book is easy to read and probably aimed at kids, it's really funny and amazing! I have read this book over and over again, and I STILL never get tired of it.

[Renee]

Can I please just read it online? :/