When It's Six O'Clock in San Francisco: A Trip Through Time Zones

by C.J. Omololu, Randy DuBurke (Illustrator)

A lyrical multicultural picture book that introduces the concept of time zones.

As one little boy is eating breakfast in San Francisco, another kid in London is playing football with his mates, a girl in Harare is eating dinner with her family, and another child in Sydney is calling for a drink of water in the middle of the night. Poetic language and charming vignettes simplify the concept of time zones by providing glimpses into the everyday lives of children around the world.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Geography

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 20, 2009

About the author

I write as C.J., but you can call me Cynthia. My YA novel DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS came out in early 2010. My next book TRANSCENDENCE came out in June of 2012, followed by the sequel INTUITION in June of 2013. My newest book is a YA thriller called THE THIRD TWIN and will be out in February 2015 followed by another standalone thriller RECOVERY in early 2016.

You might notice that I only give 4 or 5 star reviews. That isn't because I love everything, it's because I only review things I really love. As a writer, I know all that goes into making a book, and while a story might not strike a chord with me, who am I to say it won't with someone else? I hate tomatoes, but lots of people like them, and it's the same with a book. So, if I rate something here, it's means that I'd let you borrow my copy, but I really do want you to give it back so that I can read it again.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it's six a.m. in San Francisco, what time is it in Montréal? What about London, or Lahore? A young San Franciscan named Jared is just getting up, in this engaging exploration of time zones, but other children, in other parts of the world, are experiencing a different part of the day. Geneviève, in Montréal (9 a.m.), is running a little late for school; Oliver, in London (2 p.m.), is playing soccer; Nkosi, in Cape Town (4 p.m.), is running errands for his mother; Rashida, in Lahore (7 p.m.), is eating dal; and so it goes, across the world. Each child is engaged in a different activity, because each child - at that moment - is experiencing a different time of day.

More than just an informative book about the different time zones - although it is that - When It's Six O'Clock in San Francisco is a celebration of the diverse children of the world, effortlessly drawing the young reader's attention to the similarities and differences in young people's lives, the world over. The pen, ink and acrylic illustrations by Randy DuBurke capture each moment, whether it be the icy cold of a Beijing night, or the warmth of an early morning in Honolulu. All in all, a very appealing title, one I would recommend to any young readers interested in time differences and time zones.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arg. Concept books. They're dangerous dealings. A concept book is meant to have a single purpose: to inform. If they amuse, that's nice, but it's not why they were invented. And because you need a good author to make a basic concept easy and understandable to kids, a lot of topics go unanswered on library and bookstore shelves. Until this moment in time, if someone had walked up to my reference desk and asked, "Do you have a good easy concept book about time zones," they would have gotten a front row seat to the show that is my gaping fish-like mouth. As it happens, even adults don't have many books to choose from when it comes to discussing that particular topic. It's just a concept that doesn't get a whole lot of play, even though parents traveling with children, or who have family far away, need a way of explaining to their kids why time isn't the same time all around the world. Cynthia Jaynes Omololu's When It's Six o'Clock in San Francisco fills a need, and does a jolly good job of it too.

It is six o'clock in San Francisco and Jared has just woken up to drink his cocoa for the day. As he does this, it's nine o'clock in Montreal, and Genevieve and her father are taking a slippery sliding way to school that neither of them expected. As they do that, it's eleven o'clock in Santiago, and so on. With each new time zone the reader is introduced to new characters and new storylines. Whether they're scoring goals in London, asking for a last drink of water in Sydney or tearing up over spicy food in Lahore, everyone around the world is doing something different. Backmatter shows the different zones on a map with information on how they work.

Omololu opts for a story to help kids understand time zones. This works as a series of short tales, but has resulted in some cataloging confusions. For example, because the Library of Congress designated this a work of fiction, we shelve this story in our picture book section. Personally, I think it would do just fine in the non-fiction section as well. After all, that's where we put our The Magic School Bus concept books, and it doesn't seem to confuse anyone all that much. I'd love to slot this in the 808.838762 section sometime. That's the librarian in me.

Now at the end of this book is a two-page factual section that shows a map of the world, the time zones, and text explaining how seasons, distance, and the tilt and spin of the Earth affect these zones. It's a little wordy, so it's probably best to read it to those older kids studying up on the same subject. Little kids, on the other hand, will benefit from seeing on the map where each city is, and figuring out its time from that. Expect to do a lot of backing and forthing between the stories and the map as a result. It got me to thinking that a small map of the world with each new city and time zone at the bottom of the pages wouldn't have been out of place. If the map appeared with a colored bar for each zone, kids would better be able to understand that when it's one time here, it's another time there. The clocks at the bottom of the page do cover this to some extent, but I feel that a continuous map would have been cool too.

Randy DuBurke makes for an interesting complement to Omololu's text. Because this is a book written for a younger crowd, the publisher could have paired this story with a more cartoonish artist. DuBurke, in contrast, has opted for a realistic bent. Storylines are broken up into panels, with a text up above. Sometimes the storylines demand a two-page spread to end the story. Sometimes all you get are three or four panels. It's almost like a graphic novel in this way, but I feel like speech bubbles would be completely wrong for a layout like this. Best to just look as them like scenes from short films.

I did find myself wondering if kids would find the vast array of characters that exist without connection disjointed. You leap from one narrative to another pretty fast here. I was glad to see that the storyline of Jared in San Francisco works out. That gives the book a kind of conclusion that it needed. The book might lend itself to a fun writing assignment, actually. You could tell your kids to choose one of the stories in this book and write a conclusion for it. Will Nkosi in Cape Town buy the washing powder his mother wants like she told him to, or will he blow it all on CDs? Will Keilana in Honolulu convince her mother to let her stay up, or will she lose this battle and be forced back to bed? There are a lot of options here. A lot of options.

Even grown-ups shouldn't feel smug when it comes to understanding time zones. For example, what happens when some of the world experiences daylight savings? What then? As I mentioned before, books on the subject are few and far between (though, interestingly, there's another one by David Adler slated to come out in 2010). You're lucky if you can find something coherent on the subject, let alone engaging. Omololu has covered her bases all the way through the story, saying exactly what date it takes place (February 19th and 20th) and how the aforementioned daylight savings affects various zones. Added to DuBurke's images, it's a creative take on a difficult-to-teach concept. One of those books you'll add to your collection out of necessity, as well as for the fun of it.

Ages 4-9.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Text: 3 stars
Illustrations: 3 stars

Nonfiction picture book about time zones. Describes various activities taking place in cities around the world, according to what time it is there. Reader is oriented by the constant time of 6:00 AM in San Francisco. The states/countries are not indicated for the cities mentioned within the text (with the single exception of Lahore, Pakistan). There is a time zone map at the back of the book, which includes stars for the locations discussed; continents are labeled but not countries. The time zone map contains straight lines for the time zone demarcations, but those boundaries are actually rather squiggly. A very brief explanation of time zones appears under the map.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that this book starts with San Francisco’s time zone, and I learned something. I thought Hawaii was 3 hours, not just 2 hours, earlier than San Francisco; I guess most of it is, but not Honolulu.

This is a fine book for teaching about time zones. I’ve always known about them, at least since I was five, but I’ve also always been interested in them. This is a good book for kids who know about them and are fascinated and to try to explain time zones to kids who don’t yet know about them, or struggle to understand them. I love the accumulating clocks that appear on each page as the story goes around the world. I was waiting for, and thankfully got at the end, a map that shows each time zone. Seasons and the hemispheres are also briefly addressed.

The book tries to be interesting by introducing children around the world and giving each a snippet of a story, and it was a good choice to do that. But, for me, even though I appreciated the inclusion of specific cultural information, the stories were just okay. Ditto the illustrations; the pictures held my interest, but it was the clocks and map I found most interesting.

I have another time zones non-fiction book for children on reserve at the library.

It’s so frustrating to read a book with “San Francisco” in the title that can’t appropriately be placed on my san-francisco shelf.

3 ½ stars

[Pamela Rabon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story about time zones.

[Acelynn Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story profiles 10 different places around the world highlighting different time zones and different cultures.

The author, Omololu, gives readers a glimpse into global cultures and lifestyles all while teaching about time zones. While the book definitely has multicultural themes relating to geography, race/ethnicity, religion, food, etc., the author intentionally draws upon humanizing characteristics of the global characters presented in the book. Omololu presents diversity in a not-so-foreign way, making different cultures and lifestyles more accessible and more acceptable (for lack of a better word) for children. The illustrations back up mirror such diversity, including the use of darker skin toned characters in seemingly predominantly white countries i.e. Australia.

I would reccommend this book for any and all children! The educational aspect of the book might be good for children aged 4-8 as they are learning to tell time.

[Tobinsfavorite · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my young children, the oldest of whom is quite fond of clocks and the concept of time. I actually don't know whether they could follow the idea of time zones, but we did follow it up with a flashlight-and-globe session, which they enjoyed. I think this book is sneakily educational, teaching not only time zones, but also the seasonal difference between the northern and southern hemispheres, the continents, and a little bit about other cultures. We may read this one again later, maybe lots more times over years.

[Leta Huffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of this book. It introduces children to time zones. I like how they show children in each place around the world. When children read this book they realize that there are children all over the world. It introduces it in a simple way by referring back to the time it was in one place each time it introduces a new place.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of a cool story. I'm pretty sure that not a lot of people think in terms of the differences in time zones and how different parts of the world are experiencing all the different parts of the day at any given moment.

[Sam Bloom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concept and illustrations are great, and I applaud the author's use of a wide variety of cultures. But the writing just isn't that fantastic, and at times that took away from the book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text for this book is fine, and it is a great concept. The illustrations, however, are of the ugly-realistic variety that kind of creeps me out. Like clowns.

[Mollie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time zone break down

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to explain time zones to children and to show how other people live around the world.