ALL IN A DAY

Not enough hours in the day!

This delightful Australian import, a seek-and-find challenge teeming with details, invites kids to observe activities occurring at various hours from morning to night in an apartment building that includes a bakery, a barbershop, and several residences. Bonus: Kids can practice telling time from the analog clock atop the building. Black text presents a simple narrative about various goings-on—from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. the next day—and who’s performing them, including the baker and Grandma. Grayscale text at the bottom of each page asks readers to locate items. Youngsters’ counting, color-perception, and vocabulary skills are tested throughout, with questions such as “How many mugs can you find?” This book won’t disappoint: Savoring small details is fun and a terrific way to sharpen visual literacy. Kids will appreciate getting the chance to notice subtle changes in the scenes. In daylight, the building appears against a turquoise backdrop. At dusk, it’s deep red, signaling approaching nightfall; at night and in the early-morning hours, it’s dark blue, lightening with dawn. Some details are tricky to discern, but kids won’t mind. Adults should encourage children to volunteer activities they and their families do during certain day/evening hours and help them practice telling time with simple clocks. Characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Be sure to make time for this charmer; kids will want to return to it time and again.