Thirteen O'Clock

by James Stimson

This is the story of a very normal girl on an almost normal night in a fairly normal housenormal, that is, except for a not-so-normal clock whose numbers count not twelve but a spooky thirteen . James Stimson's extraordinary book about the antics of a perky prankster in pajamas is a feast of words and pictures. Filled with sly wordplay, atmospheric illustrations, and a baker's dozen of spritely, spooky, spunky characters, it reminds readers that more fun than fright can be had from things that go bump, bong, groan, clatter, squeak, and gong in the night.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Halloween, Fiction, Poetry

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Whole And · Rating 1 out of 5]

A strange Halloween type of story about strange creatures coming out of a spooky clock. The ending is nice, a scary fiend turns out a to be friendly little girl. The story can be used to discuss a child's fear in the case where it can be turned around to discover that a fear is sometimes a friend.

However, the illustrations are dark and often difficult to decipher and the writing doesn't flow. There are some neat words used throughout the book that can be a great introduction for the younger children but I'm only trying to make this read as useful as possible since my daughter chose it from the library. Sadly, I didn't really like it.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un hermoso libro ilustrado... aunque los niños y adultos que consideran que "Coraline" (o cualquier libro de Neil Gaiman para niños) resulta perturbador encontrarán en esta pequeña aventura nocturna un relato igualmente inquietante. Además de Gaiman y Dave Mackean, este pequeño libro acusa totalmente la influencia de la estética gótico-pop de Tim Burton, pero eso no es malo. Al contrario, Stimson encuentra una voz propia y un equilibrio entre texto e ilustraciones, así como un diálogo fructífero entre los estilos realistas y los abstractos, que hacen creíble el desfile de criaturas de la noche hacia el cuarto de la protagonista, esperando el momento en que el reloj marque las trece en punto de la noche.

[Ryle Souto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is she dead!!!!/10

Thirteen O'clock did to me what Skinamarink did to me. I reignited my nyctophobia. It reminded me that as a kid I was afraid of the dark so much so that I would need to sleep first before the lights went out to get any decent sleep. If you ever wanted to see a book showcase the dark in the ways in which a scared kid waking up randomly in the middle of the night does. The ending...the ending shook me up. I usually don't mention the picture books I read since I work at a bookstore and picture books are my life but honestly. This might be the best one to date.

Final Thought: if Skinamarink was produced by Tim Burton

[Michael Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic spooky book for children's story time. It will help advance their vocabulary and lexicon by introducing complex words in a fun and understandable way. The characters are memorable, unique and charismatic, and quite literally leap off the page with Stimson's illustrations.

I highly recommend this book. A+

[Rhonda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is ridiculous on every level including the illustrations.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's different and fun.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 & 8 year olds couldn’t really understand this book as I read it to them, but I loved it! I thought it was super cute!

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I little girl live-in a house with a clock that strikes 13 o'clock. It was an interesting concept, but not well executed, in my opinion.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coraline vibes

[babyhippoface · Rating 1 out of 5]

When a mysterious clock chimes thirteen, a gang of creepy creatures climbs out in this alliterative book written in free verse. The varied typesetting and energetic cartoon pencil illustrations, all in black, white, olive, and brown, will draw the attention of young readers looking for a good-natured scare, but with words like "precarious," "metronome," "horticulturally," and more, the reading and comprehension levels of the book are too high for most of the elementary kids who will show initial interest. Teachers may find it an entertaining, if somewhat challenging, read-aloud and a unique vocabulary resource. It will likely find a more comfortable home, however, in middle school Language Arts lessons on voice and alliteration.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book is what caught my eye, so I was pleasantly surprised to see such wonderful writing, especially for an illustrator's first book!

I loved the poetry and the wonderful vocabulary chosen to convey the message of the story. I LOVE LOVE LOVE children's books in all forms with rich language and what most people would consider "hard" words. I think THOSE are the very best written children's books. Kids books shouldn't be dumbed down, they should be smartened up. They need exposure to that wonderful language.

Fabulous work Mr. Stimson! I am very impressed with your first book! (the illustrations are wonderful too!)

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing, the story, the rhyming, the plot? It's a mess. And I can't tell if it's the way the words are actually placed on the page or if it's the jam-packedness of each sentence or the unconventional use of language, but I ended the book wondering if there was a rhyme scheme at all. I re-read it and saw that, yes, there was, but it took a bizarre amount of effort to read it as rhyming text with a rhythm.

[Icats · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will confess I bought this one solely for the illustrations and the title of the book. My imagination ran wild with all the things that could take place during the Thirteen hour of the day. In this particular book, thirteen o’clock is a rhythmic time to play with words that are displayed in a very artful way surrounded by whimsy imagery.

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

It, the Thing, and all sorts of creepy cuties come out in a “fairly” normal house to play with a “fairly” normal girl at the eerie hours of 13 o’clock. Fun book to read with a lot of tongue twisters. Merrick (the kid) and I both really enjoyed the story and the illustrations.

Click the pic to visit James Stimson’s blogspot and check out his incredibly awesome art. Rock on!

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of the book are the mostly black-and-white, pencil style illustrations (I say mostly because some illustrations have a few darker colors). The text, a poem, does not work as well in my opinion. It doesn't flow...there are too many words and many of the words aren't suitable for this type of poem. However, I suppose this is also a plus as it may help kids learn new vocabulary.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your normal children's book--I liked the originality of the story and the wide array of words used! There is a sense of disarray throughout the book and times when things don't really make as much sense as they should. The pictures are fun and original, too. It is fun to say the words out loud and listen to their choreographed dissonance.

[Seth Lebaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for writing in a different craft. This book has repeating lines, words, punctuations. I would use this book to help my students branch out into different writing styles, cause not everyone has to write the same and look like roboots.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this is suppose to help with vocabulary for kids but it was just too confusing for me to even understand. I usually love spooky little stories but this one just stumped me so much so I couldn't enjoy the illustrations as much as I should.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustrations in this book.

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pencil illustrations are different and catch the eye. Language is playful and fun to read aloud.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only gave it 3 stars because I enjoyed the illustrations. The story did not flow for me.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just a cute book! Wonderful illustration! Not spooky or scary but a great little book to help you get in the mood for fall!

[Lorelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting....

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird

[Krissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this with my son twice now, and he's giggled through it the entire time twice.

We love it. We love the alliteration, the black and white spooky pictures, and the "surprise" ending.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. Womp womp.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations but the rhythm of the poem is hard to follow. I enjoyed the use of alliteration and onomatopoeia but some of the vocabulary I think would be difficult for picture book ages.

[Mollie B · Rating 2 out of 5]

The text is small and the images are dark. Not great for storytime.