One Minute

by Somin Ahn

In one minute, you can blink your eyes twenty times, hug your dog, plant seeds, say good-bye, watch the rain, or even save a life. So much can occur in this sliver of time—one minute can feel like a singular experience. This poignant picture book is at once an introduction to time for young readers, an ode to living each moment with purpose, and a thoughtful exploration of how children experience one minute (may it seem short or long) playfully, profoundly, and with a boundless sense of possibility.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Mathematics, Realistic Fiction

36 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

One minute can be very important, or totally insignificant. This could be a great book for a story time on the theme of time.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sometimes, one minute is short," shares a small girl as she joyously rides a carousel. And then, as she braves a dentist's prodding, "Sometimes, one minute is long." As illustrated by this quietly resonant picture book debut, a minute can be short, long, important, uneventful, and so much more depending on the perspective from which you experience it.

[Aily · Rating 5 out of 5]

libro breve che mi ha spaccato la testa perchè ha letteralmente parlato di ciò che ho continuamente in testa: il tempo. il tempo mi affascina e spaventa allo stesso tempo, è assurdo, inusuale, ha senso ma non ne ha.. e lo scandire del tempo penso serva all'uomo per non impazzire. effettivamente un minuto può durare davvero tanto.. fa riflettere, con l'anima.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story gives multiple examples of what can happen in a minute. Sometimes a minute is long, and other times a minute can be short. One minute is sixty seconds, and a multitude of things can happen, or maybe not.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fiction picturebook geared towards children ages 3-6. In one minute, so many things can happen. This is a story about all the things that can happen in 60 seconds. What I like about this book, is that it covers positive happenings, negative happenings, scary happenings and even when nothing happens. The illustrations are very simple and playful, the copyright page does not describe the media used but my guess is color pencil. One thing that I really like about this book is that the text is written by hand, which does not seem to be very prevalent in books. I think it adds to the uniqueness of this book. I would use this book with all grade levels. An interesting thing to do would be to read it with the same group of children, have them brainstorm a list of things that can happen in a minute and see how that list changes as they grow older.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't a huge fan of the illustration style, but this book did communicate that a lot can happen in a minute, or nothing can happen at all.

Several have commented on a problematic scene in which the young girl runs into traffic to rescue her dog, who is very nearly hit. Instead of making this a "humans vs. animals" thing (because, let's face it, very rarely do we have to make the choice between an animal and a human--we sadly usually decide that an animal's life is worth taking for our most trivial desires), I'd instead make this a teaching moment about responsible pet care. The little dog isn't wearing a leash at all in a busy city setting, which is a recipe for disaster. I'd ask the young reader to think of ways in which this entire scene could have been prevented, such as by having the dog leashed and having the adult walk her instead of the child.

[Jvermeersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goed idee, maar toch miste het iets. Toont goed dat een minuut niet altijd even lang voelt, maar het hielp nog steeds niet om in te schatten hoe lang een minuut dan eigenlijk wél duurt. En vooral het einde klopt helemaal niet: in mijn ervaringen wordt een baby écht niet op één minuut geboren, nee, en dat is niet gewoon dat het langer leek te duren.

[Jacki · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the different ways that a minute can be interpreted are included here. A minute can be short, long, important, or nothing, and a lot of activities can happen in that time. The mixed media illustrations are beautiful, and the scenes make a strong contribution to a shorter textual book.

[Nena Heesakkers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eigenlijk vind ik het best een boek om een rekenles mee te starten. In groep 3, 4 en/of 5. Ook in groep 1-2 is dit boek aan te bieden. Wat kunnen de leerlingen allemaal in 1 minuut? Ik stel me voor dat er verschillende onderzoekjes worden gedaan.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction to the power of now for children. There is much life that one can experience in one simple minute when one is fully present in ones life.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to reading and writing with this. I love that tragedy is included. And how quietly a momentous moment is introduced.

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

sometimes one minute is important

[Little Seesaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little book about what can happen in a minute. It ends with a new baby coming home. That definitely takes more than a minute, or does it?

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant concept book about what a minute is. It gives the technical définition (a minute is 60 seconds), and examples of what can happen in one minute. Art pairs perfectly with the text.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable look at what one minute can mean, and how short or long one minute can seem.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story that I picked up because of the Korean author.

[Samantha Ruth Lai · Rating 3 out of 5]

LOVE this concept and it's similar to the at the same moment around the world idea // i like korean authors so i am biased 😅😅

[Cheryl Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

So charming and beautiful and thought-provoking!

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply awful

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

One minute can be so many things! From tangible things like how long your hair grows in that time to the way a clock works to intangible things like when a loved one comes or goes, a minute is described in myriad ways in this book. It's a good thinking book for children who are learning about time.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time is such a difficult concept for small children to understand. Ahn has done an admirable job of trying to explain and give examples of why sometimes time seems to drag on (when we are doing/experiencing painful or boring things) or when it quickly flies by (when we are doing/experiencing pleasurable or potentially dangerous things).

Several reviewers have mentioned their horror at seeing the girl dash in front of a car to rescue her dog. I can understand their point of view. However I think that Ahn has set this up as a great teachable moment for parents to talk about impulsiveness and to explain/warn their child that sometimes bad things can happen in the blink of an eye -- or in one minute -- when we don't think about potential consequences. Other dangerous choices she might have made include stepping into an overly hot bath, putting food that is too hot in your mouth or touching a hot pot on the stove. As it turns out in this instance, the car screeches to a halt and the child has rescued the dog.

A solid addition to begin learning about time for the very youngest listeners. Although the text is relatively simple, I don't view this as a book for beginning readers.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story on the concept of time for young readers. I feel the story would create some great inquiry and talking points with children.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of time can be a baffling one for youngsters. After all, there are days, hours, minutes, even seconds, and all of them may merge together in strange ways. In simple text accompanying by interesting illustrations, a young girl explores what might happen during a minute, from hair growing to making a new friend. She also plays with the idea of how long or short a minute may seem depending on how it is spent. Although many of the scenes are amusing, others are serious reminders of just how quickly a tragedy could occur--or by averted--as she races into the street after her dog who is chasing a ball right into the path of a car. The last two scenes are poignant as well as she feels sad over the departure of someone but contented at the arrival of a new family member. I wasn't expecting that ending. This is the first book from Somin Ahn who lives in Korea. I will eagerly anticipate her next offerings since this picture book makes readers think about each scene and how well she depicts the passing of one minute. There is much truth in what she shows and describes here.

[Anna Tunick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to "second" the comment about the child in this book running into the street: For a young audience this scenario does not constitute a teachable moment, it sends a wrong and dangerous message. I was reading this otherwise sweet and inventive book to my four-year-old and was HORRIFIED by the sequence in which the child runs into the street to rescue her dog and a car screeches to a stop to avoid hitting them. The text says "Or something can be saved.". The message is clearly that running in front of a car to save her dog was the right thing for the child to do. How did this get through editing? I stopped reading and explicitly explained to my daughter that this is the wrong thing to do: that she should never run into the street to rescue a toy or an animal or to pick up something she may have dropped, EVER. No matter what - even if it is the family dog she has to wait for a grown-up to help: better the dog get run over than she risk getting hit by a car herself. I will never read this book to her again and think other parents might want to be aware.

[Ann Valdez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have loved this book if not for the scene where a little girl races out into the street to save an animal with a picture of a car that screeched to a stop. That makes the book one which I would not give to children. How could editors not see that that would be objectionable? The rest of the book is great.

[Ruth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sometimes one minute is short. Sometimes one minute is long." A childlike expression of what makes a minute go by too fast, or just take too long. Very brief text hand lettered by author. A regular type face might be better for young readers.

[Dylan Teut · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book other than the little girl running in front of oncoming traffic!

[Akasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and thoughtful on so many levels

[Tina Cerami · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One minute is sixty seconds. In one minute, the second hand moves sixty times while the long hand moves once." A lot can happen in one minute as we all know, and Somin Ahn does a great job of telling that in this book. The character is a girl that explains everything that can happen in one minute. You can blink your eyes 20 times, say hi to your neighbor, or plant seeds.

There is saying that time is valuable and it should always be appreciated. That was what this book really teaches children. The illustrations just consist of a girl acting out what the line says. For example, when Somin Ahn write that you can plant seeds, she is planting seeds. It was something simple that I think is effective and creative.

I give this a 5 star rating because I as an adult enjoyed reading it, and I think its a fun way to teach children to appreciate the value of time and how important it is.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl tells in simple language many good and bad things that can happen in one minutes time. Love the alternating between happy and sad things. Toddlers and up.