Nine O'Clock Lullaby: A Gentle Bedtime Journey Through Time Zones and Distant Lands for Children

by Marilyn Singer, Frané Lessac (Illustrator)

When it′s 9 P.M. in Brooklyn, it′s 10 P.M. in Puerto Rico, and midnight on the mid-atlantic. Far from the vroom of New York traffic, the Puerto Rican night is filled with conga music, sweet rice, and fruit ice. In India, villagers begin their morning chores as well ropes squeak, buckets splash, and bracelets jangle. Meanwhile, in Australia, a sly kookaburra is ready for a noontime feast. Marilyn Singer′s rhythmic lullaby, with bright illustrations by Franc. Lessac, gently transports children through different time zones and distant lands. Young readers will travel far from home, then back again, on a glorious bedtime journey. Ages 5+

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Geography, Mathematics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shows the different time zones around the world, beginning and ending in New York at 9 P.M. My girls were a tad bit disappointed that our time zone wasn't shown (but I explained to them that we'd be sandwiched in between L.A. and Wisconsin). I liked that a variety of locales were shown and enjoyed the text. The author's note at the end was brief but informative. The only recommendation I'd give would be to include a world map with each location marked. The front/back cover has part of a world map with pictures ...but I think including an entire map inside with each place labeled would have been a good addition.

[Alexis Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nine O'Clock Lullaby is a great book for both math and science! I would use this book to conduct lessons on time and different time zones for science. Social studies could even be incorporated when discussing the different locations. I'd implement this story with children in grades 2nd-3rd. I love how it begins with a start time in one state then builds off that time to tell what time it is in other areas of the world when it's a specific time in one location.

[Meg Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book along with "All In a Day" that nicely depicts the lifestyles and differing time zones across the universe. The illustrations show similarities and comparisons within the cultures and places around the world, and allow children to see what is simultaneously happening in sixteen different countries all at the same time...

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worked well as a motivational read aloud to 1st graders before a lesson on half past the hour. There is one time zone in India where it's half past the hour instead of on the hour in the book. It would be great before teaching geography, o'clock, or time zones.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for the elementary set, but my 4 year old did not have the attention for it. I think it is a great book for those of us that have friends or families in other time zones though. It really illustrated that concept well.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for introducing time zones to kids.

[Holly Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to illustrate time zones by telling us what it's like around the world at the exact time we are going to bed.

[Leslie Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book illustrating the different time zones. I only wish the book would have explained WHY India is an exception to the one-hour time zones.

[Maggie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the Nine O' Clock Lullaby, the reader was able to get clues from the book of what the time of day it would be based on where you were in the world. Frane Lessac was able to illustrate amazing images of the different parts of the world. Not only did it tell us what time of day, but it described their normal cultural elements specific to that area. It also showed whether it was winter time or summer time based on where you were located in relation to the equator and the poles. This book does an amazing job explaining that it is not the same time all around the world and there are different time zones that come into play based on location. As an activity, I can have my students color in the map of the world and use the word bank to locate specific locations around the world that were in the book. When they get finished with that, I will have a QR code of the globe and they can click on the different locations and hear about the culture. Not only will they be learning about geography, but cultural diversity.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in WI... such a great surprise to find WI mentioned in this book about the time zones around the world! When we read this book, we had our globe out so that we could track the different locations and see how the time of day changes as we move east. This is a great teaching book to add to a discussion about time and time zones around the world.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok

[Taylar Sizemore]

A good book to introduce time zones and time differences to children, the illustrations accurately represent the content trying to be taught.

[Olivia Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has very detailed illustrations. This a great book to teach about different time zones.

[RachelH. Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nine O'Clock Lullaby is a concept book describing the different time zones of the world. It starts out at 9 pm in Brooklyn, New York where a mother is reading a bedtime story to her child. Then, "9 pm in Brooklyn, New York is...10 pm in Puerto Rico." The book describes what is happening at each place in the world at that time and how the current time differs across time zones. The story takes readers around the world and ends up back in Brooklyn. I really like how the book teaches about time zones as well as different cultures around the world. The illustrations highlight these cultures very well. They are vivid and detailed. I would definitely use this book in a lesson about time and time zones. I could also use it to teach about different cultures around the world.