The Man Who Tried to Save Time

by Phyllis Krasilovsky, Marcia Sewall

Once there was a man who lived with his cat on the edge of a town. He enjoyed keeping his house neat, cooking his meals, tending his garden, and feeding the cat. And at the office where he worked, he was just as tidy and industrious as he was at home. So everything went well until he got the idea of saving time. He decided to do all his chores ahead of time and then sit in his rocking chair being lazy. He dressed for work the night before and slept in his clothes to save time in the morning. He ate breakfast at night, too. In the morning he shaved in bed and ate a big lunch of roast beef and potatoes. He got himself into such a muddle that something had to happen. In the end, he learned that how you spend your time is really more important than how much time you save.

64 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1979

About the author

Best known for her picture books, although also the author of two young adult novels and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, some of them humorous. Krasilovsky's first two books were accepted for publication when she was nineteen and newly married. Both of them were written in response to real children. The Very Little Girl (1953) was originally a birthday card for her sister's child, and The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes (1950), a humorous cautionary tale illustrated by Barbara Cooney, was written for her husband's five- year-old cousin who was dying of leukemia. The Cow Who Fell in the Canal (1957), illustrated by Peter Spier, was inspired by an incident observed while bicycling through Holland. Other books were inspired by her four children and memories of her own childhood. She wrote four more Man books, and finally one about The Woman Who Saved Things (1993). One of Krasilovsky's favorite books was The Shy Little Girl (1970), based on one of her own daughters, and sensitively illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Her two young adult novels, The Popular Girls Club (1972) and L.C. Is the Greatest (1975), were based on her own experiences growing up in Brooklyn.

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Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb is wrong. The only person 'startled' by the realization is the man himself; children will easily predict the ending. Still, it's an awfully cute and timeless (wink) premise... and I would have enjoyed this book thoroughly when I was a child.

(I know, because the 'efficiency experts' bits of Cheaper by the Dozen were my favorite bits, and I reread that book several times....)

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good story to teach kids about trial and error. A very organized man tries to save himself time by doing things like sleeping in his clothes, eating breakfast for dinner, etc., only to discover that his prior way of living was actually the better way. Sometimes we need to try things in different ways to realize we liked how we were doing them best to begin with. It's a good lesson for kids to learn.