Just A Second: A Different Way To Look At Time

by Steve Jenkins

What happens in just a second? A bat makes 200 high-pitched calls. A hummingbird beats its wings 50 times. A woodpecker hammers a tree trunk with its beak 20 times. A human can blink 7 times. A vulture in fight flaps its wings once. This nonfiction picture book explores the concept of time as a series of events in the natural world that take place in given units of time. Steve Jenkins's stunning collage illustrations and fascinating collection of facts create an engaging and interconnected look at time, animals, science, and the natural world.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Science, Mathematics, Animals, Childrens, Nature

40 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Steve was born in 1952 in Hickory, North Carolina. His father, who would become a physics professor and astronomer (and recently his co-author on a book about the Solar System), was in the military and, later, working on science degrees at several different universities. We moved often. Steve lived in North Carolina, Panama, Virginia, Kansas, and Colorado. Wherever he lived, he kept a menagerie of lizards, turtles, spiders, and other animals, collected rocks and fossils, and blew things up in his small chemistry lab.

Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.

His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.

Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.

In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.

Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.

Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Try to imagine everything in terms of seconds!
Just A Second, explore the amazing world of what can happen in just a second!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really stellar book, as I’ve come to expect from Steve Jenkins.

This book contains a lot of information on every page and is best suited to independent readers.

The information includes quite a bit about various events that happen over many measures of time (a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, very quick, and very long) and, as with his other books, gives a lot of facts about nature and science, and also human history.

I love his ecological mindedness, and this shows itself in many of the subjects covered, including human population growth, trees cut down, oceans rising,

For instance: (in one week) “Human development destroys an area of forest equal in size to 550,000 football fields.” and (in one year) “Humans cut down 4,000,000,000 trees.” Yikes! I love the (in one month) “84,000 new books are published.” No wonder my Goodreads’ to-read list grows as quickly as it does! And 1,500 chickens are killed every second. I have no idea if Jenkins is a vegetarian but I am glad he included that statistic. (I actually tried to look up if Jenkins is a vegetarian but I couldn’t find out any information. I did find his website though and I plan to take a better look at it at some point.)

I love the pictorial timelines at the end: of the history of the universe, of earth’s population growth by continent 1750-2050, and Life Spans of various plants and animals. I also like the last page which lists some dates of importance in the history of time and timekeeping.

Absolutely wonderful illustrations, and many of them, as many are multiple mini-pictures on each page.

I appreciated how on the author-illustrator bio on the inside back cover, more time statistics of his life are given.

The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is that even though I’m very interested in this subject, after reading for some time, I got a tad tired of so many facts. I think this is a book I’d have enjoyed as a kid, going back many times to look at certain pages.

4 stars for my overall enjoyment, 5 stars for the illustrations and the amount and type of information presented so 4 ½ stars

I wish Jenkins was a Goodreads author member. One of us should invite him.

I’m happy to read any book by him. I don’t think there have been any I haven’t liked.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids today are so lucky to have non-fiction like this. I never read NF as a kid, but then, Jenkins wasn't publishing beautifully illustrated, tightly themed, appealing books like this back then.

[babyhippoface · Rating 5 out of 5]

Try to tap your finger on the tabletop as many times as possible in just one second. Ready? Go!

STOP.

How many times were you able to tap it? I think I managed 7 taps, tops. In that same amount of time, a woodpecker can hammer a tree 20 times. Seriously.

In only one second, a bat can call 200 times. That amazes me even more than the woodpecker's speed. In only one second, a midge can beat its wings 1,000 times. That astounds me. That's right, I'm already astounded, and I'm only on the first page of Steve Jenkins' new book.

Jenkins' cut-paper illustrations are extremely well-done, as always, but the facts are the stars here. An intriguing look at concepts of time, from a 1/800 of a second (the length of time it takes a trap-jaw ant to snap its jaw shut) to light years and beyond, this book is fascinating and thought-provoking read and would make an excellent springboard for student projects on measures of time.

As I read through the book, one question nagged at the edge of my mind, though. Little bits of "green" kept popping up--deforestation, global warming, animal extinction, worldwide oil usage, human trash production, and even the number of chickens killed every minute--that I had to wonder, Did Steve Jenkins really want to make this a book about ecology? Just a thought....

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome! I was quite pleasantly surprised by this book, as Jenkins addresses not only science-y trivia like the beats of a hummingbird's wings or a hamster's heart, but also a few more disquieting and mature facts, such as the rising of the oceans.

I must say I was also pleased to see Jenkins give a nod to the most invisible of creatures: the commercially raised chicken. 1,500 of them are killed each second.

[Ryan Hercik]

Title: Just a Second: A Different Way to Look at Time
Author and Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Illustrator:
Genre: Concept Book
Theme(s): Science, animals, nature, math, and time
Opening line/sentence: A second goes by pretty quickly.
Brief Book Summary: This book talks about what many species and other things in the outside world can do in one second, minute, hour, day, etc. Steve Jenkins gives real life examples that make a child’s connection to the outside world easier. He also gives a timeline on how our solar system was created.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: (Hornbook) 40 pp. Houghton (Houghton Mifflin Trade and Reference Division) 2011. ISBN 978-0-618-70896-3
(3) K-3 Jenkins's trademark cut-paper illustrations portray time in the context of animal (and a few technological and earth-related) movements, such as the number of wing flaps and heartbeats in a second, distances traveled in minutes, and growth over years. The facts are interesting and will reward browsers looking for animal trivia or trying to get a handle on time. Reading list, timeline.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: (CLCD) Miranda McClain (Children's Literature)
How many times does a child s heart beat per minute? What about an adult, an elephant, a hamster, or a chilly crocodile? These are just a few of the facts presented in this fascinating book. Starting with the many things that can happen in a second, or even a fraction of a second, in the animal kingdom and the world at large, and gradually working through a minute, an hour, and up to a year, this book is jam packed with interesting facts kids will love. From the speed of a charging grizzly bear and the rate of deforestation to the life span of a great white shark, the reader comes away with an entirely new appreciation for how much can happen in a short period of time and the way we measure it. Whether used as part of a math unit on time increments, or as an accompaniment to a science lesson on animals or the environment, Jenkins beautiful cut-paper illustrations are a wonderful way to get children thinking more about the world around them. 2011, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.
(PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (Boston:), PUBLISHED: 2011.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews: This book is perfectly written and drew by Steve Jenkins that using real life connections to the outside world that kids never knew before. I would highly recommend this book because it can be used across of variety of learning fields and kids may want to read it over and over again.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The author uses connections from both math and science with beautiful color pictures of animals and a description of what they can do during that given time increment on the page. Each new time period is explained through a different background on the page. The real world connections make learning abundant for children and he even gives more information about himself on the back cover in time statistics.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is perfect for teaching students about all different animals in science and can also be used in math. I can teach students about how to create a timeline of events that happen throughout their lives. Also they can draw out and write an explanation for things they can accomplish in one minute, hour, day, week, etc., along with teaching them to set goals throughout the year.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always thrilled by a new book from Steve Jenkins. His torn- and cut-paper collages are endlessly fascinating, and I am in awe of his ability to bring a pumpkin, a mole, a mouse, and a rattlesnake, among others, to life with his paper. This book focuses on time, discussing and showing what can happen in a second, then in a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, and a year. He then devotes two pages each to occurrences that are faster than a second or very long. Backmatter includes information on the human population of Earth and a lifespan timeline as well as a visual of the history of the universe. The portions on the very quick and the very long seemed a bit jarring since they came after the steady progression of second to minute to hour, but this informational text provides a unique way to explore time. I particularly liked how Jenkins provided information about the increasing number of humans and their impact on the environment in several of the pages. If you don't own any books by this author/illustrator, this one would be a nice first purchase. His books never fail to intrigue young readers and middle graders.

[Jim Erekson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is unusual to see an informational book about time. It makes me think there should be a kids' book about ontology -- consciousness and existence, Heidegger with concrete examples. The examples of time in this book were straightforward, but after a while it became clear that it was just a book about how many of certain things can happen in a unit of time. That got old. Also, there was clear text about how time developed as a measurement concept, but nowhere were these measurement concepts (such as minutes or seconds) presented visually in a diagram. Interesting fact about when and where seconds, minutes were developed. That part of the text is easy to find on wikipedia, so it's great that most of the visuals and time in the book are spent on points of comparison.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text: 4 stars
Illustrations: 4 stars

Nonfiction picture book relating various events that occur within specific time durations. The facts, which represent solid scientific knowledge, are fascinating to read, though not very tightly connected to one another. The book is divided into time segments from a fraction of a second, second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, and ending with hundreds/thousands of years. Also includes a brief history of the formation of the universe and development of life, a chart of human population growth, and a timeline of some plant and animal life spans. Good pictorial support for the information presented in the book.

[Anna Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Just a Second
Author: Steve Jenkins
Illustrator: (if different than author)
Genre: Honor Book
Theme(s): time, animals, nature, earth, environment
Opening line/sentence: “A second goes by pretty quickly.”
Brief Book Summary:
This book discusses different amounts of time and fun facts that happen during that time. It begins with one second and goes all the way to millions of years. Not only are they interesting facts but that are accompanied by great pictures, graphs, and charts.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Daniel Kraus (Booklist, Nov. 1, 2011 (Vol. 108, No. 5))
In his introduction Jenkins writes, Some surprising even amazing things can take place in a very short time. And, in bright two-page spreads of alternating colors, he uses torn- and cut-paper collage to illustrate the many things shocking, intriguing, hopeful, and sad that are finished in the blink of an eye. He begins with what happens in one second: A bat can make 200 high-pitched calls. A black mamba slithers a frightening 24 feet. 1,500 chickens are killed. One minute allows for even bigger accomplishments: A skydiver in free fall plunges two miles. One hour is even more impressive, and then comes one day: The world’s population increases by about 215,000 people (382,000 are born and 167,000 die). Fascinating though it is, the flat presentation has the quality of a museum exhibit, and some kids may sift through it just as quickly. In short doses, though, the art is clever, and the back matter regarding the history of the universe, Earth s population, and the life span of species is pretty staggering. Grades 4-7
(PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (Boston:), PUBLISHED: 2011.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, January 2012)
“Just A Second" is a book that educates children about the amazing nature of time. How much can happen in a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a year? An astounding look at the possible measurements of time, in real events that occur in the given time frame, is creatively presented in colorful, torn-and-cut paper collages for illustration. For example, in one year, global warming causes a sea level rise of about 1/8 (millimeters) of an inch. In 1/100 of a second, the Shasta salamander, an amphibian with the world's fastest tongue, can snap up an insect. An object the size of the asteroid that may have killed off the dinosaurs collides with our planet about once every 100,000,000 years. These and other fantastic examples teach all of us to think differently about time and what it measures. A fascinating end note gives many interesting measurements of what has occurred in the author's life since he began writing "Just a Second." The final statement is "Steve still doesn't really understand what time is, but he wishes there were a little more of it in a day. The Science Shelf ...., Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $16.99. n/a
(PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (Boston:), PUBLISHED: 2011.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
Both of these reviews are awesome and give just enough summary as well as discussing the illustrations and text. I enjoyed the first review the best because it gave little examples of the facts that are presented which helps bring the reader in and want to read more. I also liked how it mentioned using this book in short doses so you can fully appreciate the facts and pictures. What I liked about the second review was how they brought up the author including what has occurred in the time frame it took him to write Just a Second.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The illustrations throughout this book are fun and eye catching. They are torn and cut collages and add something different to the text. The text is also great for young readers because there is not much of it. In the beginning there is more than usual because it provides a brief introduction, but after that, when the facts start, the text is in short phrases. At the end of the book there are charts, graphs, and maps that provide more information for the reader.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
Since this book is all about fun facts that happen during different increments of time, I would do something similar to that with my class. I would have my class do different activities like walk around the perimeter of the room, do a simple math problem, read a short story, and time themselves doing it. Then, we can see how long it takes each student to do these activities. Afterwards, we could create a bar graph of the times and actions.

[Kaitlyn Oakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Nonfiction WOW book that I chose is “Just a Second” by Steve Jenkins (Illustrations by Steve Jenkins). This book dives into comparing lots of different things that can happen in a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a year, and so on, with lots of interesting facts about animals, plants, people, famous events, space, and more.

I think that this book could work for 3rd grade to 5th grade because while it’s a picture book, it still includes relatively heavy text with lots of information that can be discussed in multiple subjects. I would like to use this book in a combination of math and science instruction because while students can learn interesting facts about different animals, plants, and important scientific events in history, they can also look at how the minute, hour, day, etc. relate to one another mathematically. You could have the students use multiplication and division to calculate things like: How many times faster is ___ than ___?" from the story. For science you could have students after reading this book observe animals outside and keeping track of how many "___"s they do per minute, per second, etc. as an exploration activity, and then make a graph of their results. I think it could also be used for social studies because when the book jumps from seconds to minutes to hours, it briefly discusses the history around why we tell time the way that we do and where it originated. This would be interesting to discuss and further research so that students could have a better grasp on time and the history behind it. It could also be used during family time, and students could answer the questions: "What can you do in a second? A minute? An hour?" to connect the book to their lives.

This book was a WOW book for me because there were so many things that I didn’t realize could happen in a second, or a minute, an hour, etc. so it was really cool to explore the different facts and compare them across different intervals of time. It really put things into perspective, specifically with the fact that the fastest man-made object, the Helios II satellite, travels 43.5 miles every second. There were just so many interesting facts that made me say “wow”, and I think it would do the same for students too.

[Shelby Adcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I read this as an e-book through METRC*

This is book is a high quality picture book from the non-fiction category. I think this book could be read in any age group from 3rd to 6th grade because it does contain a lot of complex information regardless of it being a picture book. The book is split off into sections that allow it to talk about what happens over different periods of time such as one second, one hour, one day, and even one month. It gives many different ideas about different cycles or happenings in life that are not necessarily common knowledge and most often can be very interesting to students and teachers as a whole. There are examples in this book that talks about the cycle of fingernail growth, how far a plane gets in one second of time and so on. This book was a WOW book for me because I was amazed at the different things that can happen in different periods of time. I was intrigued in reading the book throughout the entire length because of the depth of the facts that were expressed.

This book contains a lot of numerical and scientific knowledge. It could go along great with a math or science lesson as a literacy add on or enrichment tool. If I decided to take this lesson in the math direction, I could ask the students to pick a random fact that was one of their favorites and inform me which one they decided to pick. After some planning, I could take each fact they gave me and create a personal math task for them to complete that aligned with the standards we were learning at the time. For example, the book mentions that a human fingernail grows an eighth of an inch in a month. If a student decided to choose this fact, I could set up a math task asking them how long the fingernail would grow in 6 months. As mentioned previously, this book could also be used in the science classroom for extra literacy enrichment or support. I could use this book as an introductory read aloud for say an insect lesson we were doing in science. It mentions that certain flies life cycles are only 24 hours. This fact personally took me off guard and made me say WOW. I believe that students would think the same and would later want to be engaged in the science lesson.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Mann in his novel ‘The Magic Mountain’ writes: “What is time? It is a secret – lacking in substance and yet almighty.” The concept of time has been treated in a different way in different periods of time. In ancient Greece for instance, time was treated as a circle. Hesoid, the Greek historian of 8th century B.C. divided time into five ages of mankind, beginning with the golden age of the distant past when men lived in peace and continuing upto the contemporary Iron Age where fights and warfare prevail. But in medieval and modern times time has been treated as a linear process. Saint Augustine in his ‘City of God’ favoured the linear concept of time and labelled the Greek cyclic time as a mere fallacy.

Time has been mentioned in literature in different ways. Even the mythical and cyclic depiction of time had influenced many writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez (‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’), Octavio Paz (his poem ‘Piedra de sol’). Even T.S. Eliot in his poem ‘Geronation’ gave to us the negative document on human life just as Paz.

Written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, this book is a valuable instruction for young children about the passage of time. To bring home such poignant realizations to a child, is no diminutive challenge, and Jenkins succeeds commendably in this astounding, fact-filled book.

This extraordinary picture book not only makes units of time intelligible, it also sparks curiosity in science, math, and the earth’s history. Accompanied by his signature collages, Jenkins stretches the mind by having readers and listeners consider that a bumblebee’s wings can beat 200 times per second, a ladybug can eat 500 aphids in a week, or a person standing at the equator is actually moving at a rate of 18 miles per minute as the planet rotates.

Adults may be just as enthralled as early readers with this book.

[Katie Noblitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Just a second" by author Steve Jenkins is an informational text that combines the science and math behind time, as it describes the different scientific things that can happen in a second, minute, hour, and so on. This text is a super engaging way to teach children about time and scientific occurrences that can happen in a specific amount of time. This book leaves readers with new knowledge about things that happen in time, as well as new found excitement about the concept of time! This book could be introduced as early as first or second grade, but could be read up through fifth!

This book was a WOW book for me because of the engaging way Jenkins describes time. Time was never an engaging concept for me as a child and I love how Jenkins finds a way to make it exciting! For me, it can be difficult to find informational texts that are intriguing to children, so this book really blew me away! It engaged me from the first page and kept me engaged throughout the book with the illustrations and unique layout of the pages. I also felt as though I learned a lot of new facts regarding time!

In my future classroom, I will use this book in my science and math curriculum. First, since students will already have some concept of time in upper elementary grades, I will use this book to simply refresh my students memories on the mathematics behind time. Second, I will use it to teach students about scientific things that happened in certain periods of times. In my science curriculum, I could have students list some of their favorite scientific facts they learned from the book, specifically noting the amount of time it takes those facts to occur!

I accessed this book as an e-book using NCSU's overdrive resource!

[Joella · Rating 5 out of 5]

How long is a second? What could happen in a second? This book tells you about some of the interesting things that can all happen in less time than it takes to read the title of the book. For example, a "bumblebee beats its wings 200 times" or a "black mamba slithers a frightening 24 feet (7 meters)" in a second. Perhaps readers will find it interesting that "somewhere in the world, four babies are born (and two people die)" per second. The book then moves on to things that can happen in one minute "a skydiver in free fall plunges two miles" or in one hour "a mole can dig a tunnel 20 feet long" and all the way up to one year where "an arctic tern flies 40,000 miles--the longest migration in the animal world."

With the text and pictures scattered around this book is almost like a Guinness Book of World Records for accomplishments that can happen within a specified moment in time. Readers who love being able to explore a little or a lot on each page will enjoy learning with this book. And don't be surprised if someone comes around to tell you just how amazing it is that "a woodpecker hammers a tree trunk with its beak 20 times" in a second or that "a commercial jet at cruising altitude covers about 800 feet" in a second. And, it will only take a second for young readers to be interested in this book! And the best part is, if you need to tell a child "Just a second" you can instead say "I'll help you once the Earth advances 18.5 miles in its orbit around the sun" and mean exactly the same thing (even if it sounds longer).

[Michelle Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Just a Second" by Steve Jenkins is one the coolest books I have ever read! It is fabulously filled with facts regarding the tellers of time from one second to a year. The flap of a hummingbird's wings, the tides of the ocean, baby whales gaining weight, the human population, the destruction of the rain forest, and more are all specified to the length of time they take and move by. The facts are so amazing they are unbelievable but definitely natural and true. The illustrations are wild.

This book is definitely intended for young readers, but I'm 26 and I believe this is one of my favorite books ever! Anyone interested in the marvelous antics of the universe will be taken by these natural occurrences and how we perceive them. This book is excellent for students who are working on a science report or project about the measurements of time. How mind opening! It would also be fun to research other things that happen in a period of time. "Just a Second" also has an Earth-friendly feel to it as the author discusses the span of the human civilization and how it affects deforestation, trash production, fossil fuel consumption and more. This would be a nice tool to use during and Earth Day lesson plan. For older readers interested in science, this could be a good tie-in for the relativity of time and the father of this notion, Albert Einstein. Cool!

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011.

[Jessica]

What happens in a second? Minute? Hour? Day? How do we measure time? The heartbeat of a crocodile. The flap of a birds wing. The weight of a baby blue whale. Although these sound like strange ways to measure time, they are all fascinating ways we can think about time. Just a Second makes you think in a unique way about time beyond the ticking hands on a clock. This non-fiction picture book explores time in a different way through natural events.

Just a second would be suitable for almost any elementary grade (K-6), but requires you to think about time in an abstract way. This may make it more difficult for younger grades to comprehend. This book can appeal to every student in your classroom. Be explicit to every one of your students about all the different ways you can think about time; from the tick of a clock to the flap of a birds wings.

I would absolutely use this book in my classroom on a discussion about time. I would stimulate students to think about all the ways they think about time. After reading the book I would want to discuss how these natural events intertwine with time. Again, I think this book triggers students to think in an abstract way using a more complicated thought process.

Jenkins, S. (2011). Just a second: a different way to look at time. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

[Katy Chappell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This informational text was so cool! It talks about different things various animals, machines, etc. can do in a certain amount of time whether it be a second, minute, or day. The book has pictures to go along with all of the information. For example, Jenkins writes, "A very chilly crocodile's heart may slow to just one beat," and it shows a picture of a crocodile with a highlighted heart.

I could use this book to teach SO MANY things. One idea that stood out to me is math concepts around converting units because the book has units in U.S. Customary and metric (feet vs. meters, etc.). It would also be a great book to talk about geography and history because the book touches on where our system of time comes from and how long we have been using it. I think this book would be great to use for 4th or 5th grade because I think the concept of what can happen in a certain amount of time is a difficult idea to grasp for even the adult mind, so I would use this book to help introduce that idea to older elementary-aged students.

This is a WOW book because it made me think so much! It was really engaging to read about a ton of random things that happen in different units of time. Also, I love how many instructional implications can come from this single book because it would be helpful for integrating subjects throughout the day.

[Sarah Coucoulas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a Second is a wonderful informational text for grades 2-5. Steve Jenkins teaches in this book that so many interesting things can happen in one second, then begins to expand into what can happen in a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, and even a year! Jenkins teaches readers all about animals, technology (planes and satellites), humans of all ages, planets, plants, and much more!

I would use this book in my classroom to talk about time! As we know it is important to incorporate reading into all areas of instruction, so here we can combine math standards on time with reading instruction. I would teach students the units of time addressed in the story and have students brainstorm more events that could happen int a second, minute, hour, and so on. We could also use this book to teach some science content because Jenkins dives in to multiple concepts of animal biology and speed, for example- a black mamba moves 24 feet per second!

This is my e-text.
This is a WOW book for me because it is extremely informative and interesting to see how quickly or slowly things happen. This book has taught me how quickly a monkey's screams can travel, that in one month human hair grows a 1/2 inch, and so many more interesting facts

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at www.apatchworkofbooks.com

Woohoo! A new book from Steve Jenkins! In the non-fiction world, he's one of my favorites, combining really cool, unique illustrations and facts kids love. Short, to the point, fun, and educational...the best combo for a successful non-fiction book for kids, in my opinion.

This one, as the subtitle suggests, looks at time in a different way. Listing different things that happen in one second, one minute, one hour, etc., we get little fact tidbits relating to animals, insects, population, and more. My favorite fact? "In one hour, feeding on its mother's milk, a baby blue whale gains almost ten pounds." IN ONE HOUR. Ten pounds people! Isn't that crazy?!

The page layout is readable and visually intriguing and the extras in the back, like the chart of Earth's Human Population and the timeline of different animal Life Spans add a cool factor to the informational aspects.

Steve Jenkins has yet to disappoint me! I would highly recommend checking this out for your library or homeschool shelves.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked lots of aspects of this book. I liked the scope of the events measured, from natural to man-made; I liked how Jenkins distinguished between natural cycle time (day, month, year) and "created" time (second, minute, week). I liked that some of the measurements counted our impact on the world (forest destruction, rising sea levels, population). Of course I loved the illustrations. I liked the organization of the book from second through year.

What I wanted and kept looking back at the illustrations to find was some kind of visual organization on each page. The black and white "timeline" border on the bottom made me want to measure things against it, so when the first animal on the left is the dragonfly (50 feet/second) and the next is a human (39 feet/second) it threw me off. I know the intended effect is collage/gestalt, all-these-things-take-the-same-time, but I did keep wanting the images to relate to each other within each page. But then, I'm a Virgo with an over-developed urge to organize bits and pieces.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is "a Different Way to Learn About Time", and Jenkins certainly made me think about it differently. He begins by describing what a second is, and what can happen in the natural and man-made worlds in a second--and that amazed me. A rattlesnake can shake its tail 60 times in one second! A fast human runner can run 39 feet in one second! He then goes on to describe a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, and a year in similar manner. He also includes 2-page spreads on things that happen very quickly and over a very long period of time, then a timeline of the universe and a graph of human population on earth from 1750 to 2050. His last 2-page spread is a chart of the life spans of various plants and animals on earth. The very last page covers a chronology of the history of time and timekeeping. With his clever and intricate papercutting and collage illustrations, he pulls the reader. There is much to think about and discuss here. A great addition to science classes--highly recommended!

[Kassie Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Non Fiction- Picture book
2. 3-4
3. No Awards
4. This book goes through different time phases in our world. It explores how different things evolve. I would include this book in my library during our science unit of growing our own plants in a bag. It would give the kids a more insight on how throughout a course of time different things are happening. This would give the children a vivid image of how things go from one phase to another. They get to see the seed, roots start to develope, and maybe a flower grow if their plant is watered properly. I would go over the steps with the students. They would have to write on their growth sheet in words how their plant is looking (e.g. I see white roots growing out of the plant. I also see that the seed is starting to split). They would have to also include a picture of what their seed looks like each time in their log. Over a weeek and month.

[Demeyia Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever thought about the numerous things that could be done in a span of a second, a minute, maybe an hour? If not, Steve Jenkins does a great job of discussing many of the world's happenings that happen during certain time intervals.

The book talks about different measurements of time from seconds to a year with different examples to compare what could happen in that span of time. Jenkins use of interesting topics and great illustration would be sure to capture the attention of an elementary school child.

This would be a great book to use when introducing topics of time to students. The teacher could begin with the smallest unit of time (seconds) and worked their way up to larger units of times such as days or years. To show how long or short these time spans are, students can just refer back to the text to see examples of processes that happen in that amount of time.

I enjoyed this book and I know it make a great addition to any personal or classroom library!

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenkins always manages to make science and nature even more fascinating than it usually is. In this book, he shows the passage of time in unique and intriguing ways that will get young scientists thinking differently. What happens in one second? Well, in that second a bat can make 200 calls or hummingbird beats its wings 50 times. What happens in one minute? In a minute a grizzly bear can charge up to one half-mile or a skydiver falls 2 miles during free fall. How about an hour? A day? A week? Longer? For all of these, Jenkins selects intriguing examples of what happens during that time period that will have you thinking about time and what can be done in ways you never expected.

Read the rest of my review on my blog, Waking Brain Cells.

[Sarah S · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know what a second is, but as Jenkins says, it doesn't relate to any cycle in nature--it's a human invention. How can we understand a second? A year? Loads of examples from biology, geology, physics, and technology help us understand. In one second, a hummingbird beats its wings 50 times, a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere can travel 44 miles, and a black mamba slithers 24 feet. In a year, a termite queen lays almost 3,000,000 eggs and Mt. Everest rises half an inch. Charts and timelines at the end help to build on this context.

This is more than just a list of fun trivia (although it's that, too). It helps people conceptualize just how fast and slow things are and how they fit into our world, our history, and our future. Gr. PreK-3.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

the world has adapted a way to measure the passage of time that was first invented by the Babylonians. We still use these discrete measures of seconds and minutes. This book explains the history of these measures and provides an astounding number of facts about what actually happens within those times.

I picked this up because I found it had been mis-shelved.

I finished it because it was interesting to learn about how we have measured time for thousands of years, and to see the different things that can be done within a second or minute.

I would recommend this book to Cristopher. It contains enough information that he would be interested, but not so much that he would choose not read it.

[Sunday · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In one second...
A vulture in flight flaps its wings once.
A pygmy shrew's heart beats 14 times.
A bat can make 200 high-pitched calls.
A bumblebee can beat its wings 50 times...."

In one minute...
In one hour...
In one day...
In one year...

Jenkins shares fascinating facts, each with a eye-appealing illustration that help our students begin to understand time while also being fascinated by what can happen in a very short amount of time.

[Vanessa Lecaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome new ways to measure time. Like one second is the time it takes a vulture to flap its wings…. Very cool illustrations

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Jenkins is my favorite nonfiction author for kids. I love his books. This book briefly explains where our units of time come from...and tells one things that are accomplished in these amounts of time. For example, in a second a black mamba slithers 24 feet, a sprinting cheetah travels 100 feet, and four babies are born. In an hour, 15,913 people are born and a baby blue whale gains ten pounds. In one year, a termite queen lays nearly 3 mill eggs, Mount Everest rises half an inch and 139, 400, 000 people are born. The book is short enough to read in one sitting but has enough interesting facts to lead to discussions about population, environmental issues, our body, animals, and many other topics.