The Late Cuckoo

by Louis Slobodkin

A clockmaker must figure out how to fix the one hundred twenty-third cuckoo clock, which is always one minute late, in order to sell all of them to a rich sultan.

Genres: Picture Books

34 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Louis Slobodkin entered the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, where he studied drawing, composition, and sculpture, at the age of fifteen. In his six years there, he won over 20 medals for his work, and was awarded the Louis Tiffany Foundation Fellowship.

In 1927, Slobodkin married Florence Gersh, a poet and children's author. However, Slobodkin did not become involved in children's literature until 1941, when he illustrated The Moffats, by his friend Eleonor Estes.

In 1944, Louis Slobodkin won the Caldecott Medal for illustrating Many Moons, written by James Thurber.

During his career, Slobodkin illustrated nearly 90 books, 50 of which he also wrote. He and his wife collaborated on five books.

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

I adore this illustrator. His pictures are so whimsical, I just want to walk around in the scenes he creates.

The story I’m afraid, while fun, was a little too nonsensical at the end: a clockmaker discovers that the reason his cuckoo clock is always late is because the cuckoo bird in it is sleeping. By putting a tiny alarm clock inside that goes off a minute early, the cuckoo bird wakes up on time to cuckoo punctually with the rest of the clocks.

The book is also a bit wordy for a picture book.

Ages: 6 - 8

#Switzerland

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

[SBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little story about a village that appreciates the one little cuckoo clock that is different. But when the sultan arrives and wants to buy them all, the clockmaker finally has to bring the cuckoo clock into conformity. His solution is sweet. Lovely little illustrations. I enjoyed the children.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 and a half stars