The Clock Struck One: A Time-Telling Tale

Math Is Fun!

by Trudy Harris, Carrie Hartman (Illustrator)

Join in the fun with this new twist on Hickory Dickory Dock nursery rhyme, and see how many different kinds of clocks you can find When the clock strikes one, a fun-loving mouse runs up the clock. But what happens when the clock strikes two? A cat gets hungry for mouse-tail stew . . . and the chase is on! Hour by hour, more animals - and even a few people - join in. The crowd charges into the barnyard, dashes through the kitchen, and eventually heads right into the middle of town. Keep your eye on the many clocks in this book and follow along until this twelve-hour race comes to a surprising end! In each of these unique titles, poetry, stories, and trivia combine to illustrate math principles for young readers. The lighthearted illustrations and storylines show students how fascinating the world of numbers can be.

Genres: Picture Books, Mathematics, Animals, Storytime, Nursery Rhymes, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Trudy Harris, RN, is the New York Times bestselling author of Glimpses of Heaven and More Glimpses of Heaven, a former hospice nurse, and former president of the Hospice Foundation for Caring. Since retirement, Harris remains active in connecting the need

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this rhyming book, children enjoy the fun while learning to tell time. Following the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock, the reader follows along with the chase of a mouse, a cat, a dog, bees, a chicken and people. The pictures reflect the time of day while the clocks show the hour. At the end of the book are discussed the difference between digital and analog clocks. Further explanation between the a.m. and the p.m. symbols are explained by telling that time moves from midnight to noon to midnight, all in twelve-hour increments. The ten o'clock hour is shown on both digital and analog clocks in a full-page spread out.

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Trudy Harris' Math is Fun! series. In this adaptation of the nursery rhyme "Hickory Dickory Dock" she plays with time.

Hickory dickory doo, the grandfather clock struck TWO.
It woke the cat, who sprang from his mat,
hungry for mouse-tail stew.

For 12 hours the cat pursues the mouse through the farm and house. A variety of clocks from old-fashioned grandfather clocks (analog) to modern digital clocks show us the time as we go.

Time is also reflected through the passage of the day. The sky gets darker, shadows stretch, and characters tire. This is a fabulous book—fun to sing, exciting, repetitive and structured, and with tons of learning opportunities related to time.
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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books about singalong books: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/40-sin...

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ages 4 and up. I like that the book features digital and analog clocks. I also liked that there was a wordless page featured giving children the opportunity to narrate their own part of the story. Since the story goes past midnight, it helps children to see that after 12:00, we start back over at 1 again. At the end of the book, the author provides an over view of clocks and telling time that is simple and well done. Preschoolers can enjoy the rhyming story while being introduced to clocks and telling time. Older children can practice telling time on the many clocks featured in the story.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chase in this reworked nusery rhyme is reminicent of Tom and Jerry. The author has a trifecta on her hands with this one. There's the all important nursery rhyme factor, her reworking the words makes for a good read aloud which combined with the illustrations is a good story, and last but not least, there is a clock on every page by which children can recognize and learn how to tell time. This would make for a great storytime book for preschoolers.

[Victoria Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so similar to Hickory Dickory Dock except with a twist! It would be a good book to use when teaching math so the students could get an idea of how times works, meaning that 12 can be midnight and noon.

[Mario Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rhyming pattern throughout this book was very stimulating, witty, and fun to read. The rhyming patterns followed the same rhythmic pattern throughout the entire book, and each illustration that went along with it depicted every little thing that was described within the story and its rhymes. The illustrations were colorfully-huge, and each scene covered the majority of the gutter portions, rather than each scene being placed onto one page at a time. The wittiness and huge illustrations were the two things that kept me enthused throughout the whole book, and I would definitely recommend it to Elementary school-aged children, especially those that need to learn how to tell time.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mouse running up a clock sets off a chain of events that adds more and more creatures and people to the chase for 12 hours.

This starts off like the nursery rhyme “Hickory dickory dock…” and then it ventures into new territory. It is in rhyme throughout and it is wildly imaginative with humorous illustrations. This is one wild 12 hour span. The book features both analog and digital clocks throughout to help readers practice reading various times. There’s further information in the back of the book about telling time.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute. Would be a good addition for libraries/collections that need more books that talk about how one tells time.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful for teaching time

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Countdown to Kindergarten: Time

This book focuses on simple time telling: 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, etc. It did the job, but it wasn't particularly wonderful.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might work for storytime, but a little long.

[jahki · Rating 5 out of 5]

rhyming
time telling
math
numbers
sequence

[Gabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book

[Katrina Clohessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation

Cute little book that will help kids with counting time. It'll also present alittle countdown to help get the kiddos to sleep.

[Haley Kilgour · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun take on hickory dickory dock.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is clearly for elementary school kids but my one year old loves it! He has an obsession with clocks and this book engages him and he loves the rhyming.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of my grandsons and I had fun reading this energetic tale.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a funny book that comes up with a fun chase story based on the hickory dickory dock song - and also goes through time with the clock. Great book for kids learning to read clocks!

[Ashley Shrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to read, count with, and show the students how the hands on the clock look like at certain times.

[Tanika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about a mouse who runs up the clock. The cat gets hungry so he chases the mouse. Every hour something new is happening. This is an excellent book to talk about time and rhyming, in the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock, but with a fun twist. I believe the children will enjoy the book. At the end of the book there is a lesson on clocks.

[Megan Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be read for encouragement for the students to write their own riddle about time. The students can use events or items they like in their own life in the riddle.

The students can make a clock, while the book is being read. That way the students get to connect the times being read in the book with their own hand-held visual.

[Gianna Romo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time can be a difficult concept to teach to young children because it is so abstract. This book does a great job at giving examples of telling time and what happens throughout the day as the time progresses. I would definitely use this to introduce the concpt of time and understanding how to read a clock.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is oddly shaped and shaded, which distracts a lot from the storyline. And while this seems to have been designed as a "math concept" book, complete with talk about time concepts in the end, the design and plot line do little to teach kids about time.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't believe my 5 yr old son would let me take this one back to the library! It's Hickory Dickory Dock updated and made into a very fun chase story. There is time telling taught along side without being obtrusive and the illustrations are nice and interesting.

[Andrew Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be good to incorporate in a lesson on elapsed time. If you have a class set of clocks with moveable hands each student can have his or her own clock and watch how the hands move over a long period of time.

[Sheniqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat little rhyming book about telling time over the time span of adventure including a cat, mouse, and a farmer and his wife. This book is great for introducing time and contains pictures of both digital and analogous clocks.

[Sade]

I love the fact that this book use great illustrations and rhyming words to teach a difficult subject like time. It allowed for my nephew to believe we were having a fun read aloud when in fact we were learning math, a subject he hates. This is a great introduction book to telling time.

[Brittany Balunas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time is a difficult subject to teach to kids, so I am very glad there is a great book this to help teachers and parents! I would use this book as a read aloud in order to get students more familiar with the concept of time passing and the face of the clock.

[Kristin Waitkus]

Great book to use K-3 to teach telling time to the nearest hour. The story uses rhyming words to help the kids learn time, they love reading the story and it really helps them understand the concept of telling time!