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About Time: A Children's Guide to the History and Science of Time
Time is central to our experience as humans, and it’s important for children to know not just how to tell the time, but also how to make the most of it.
About Time will help them learn how to tell the time on a variety of devices, and about all the different ways humans have tried to do this. Through unique and fun interactive elements, the book will also help children understand how clocks work and even build some time-telling and clockwork devices for themselves!
This book benefits from the unique partnership of an award-winning practicing watchmaker and experienced physics teacher to pair the best of timekeeping mechanics and history with the national curriculum.
About Time will help them learn how to tell the time on a variety of devices, and about all the different ways humans have tried to do this. Through unique and fun interactive elements, the book will also help children understand how clocks work and even build some time-telling and clockwork devices for themselves!
This book benefits from the unique partnership of an award-winning practicing watchmaker and experienced physics teacher to pair the best of timekeeping mechanics and history with the national curriculum.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2025
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 7, 2025
About Time: A Children’s Guide to the history and science of Time, by Alom Shaha and Rebecca Struthers is a mostly excellent older child’s book about, well, “the history and science of time”, packed with information of all sorts: historical, scientific, biographical, horological (clock-centered). Information greatly enhanced by the illustrations and diagrams throughout.
In terms of the information, it is fantastic. The information is concise and (mostly) clear, the diagrams and illustrations are clarifying as they should be, it covers a wide swathe of topics, including but not limited to cosmological time, the history of timekeeping devices from sundials to water clocks to pendulum and crystal time-keeping to atomic clocks, calendars (solar and lunar), the division of time into weeks, days, and hours; biographical sketches of important figures (that do not ignore the contributions of women, people of color, non-Westerners), psychological perspectives of time and how they change, and more.
I had only two minor quibbles. One is that it is a somewhat oddly broad level of knowledge. It’s explanation of how to read clocks, or what weeks and days are seems aimed at the very young. While its descriptions and vocabulary in other areas are aimed at much older kids. Obviously, the young ones can skip the tougher parts, and the old ones can skip/skim the obvious parts, but it still struck me as aiming at too wide an audience in terms of prior knowledge/age. Generally, I’d say it’s mostly aimed at kids in the 10-15 range. While younger ones will certainly learn something, the vocab and amount may be a bit much. The second quibble is a common one I have with younger non-fiction, which is that the pages can often feel a little cluttered with multiple sections, insets, text boxes, separate images and topics, etc. and a few times the connections between some of those on the same page seemed more than a little tenuous. It’s not terrible, but a more streamlined approach would be helpful for the intended audience I think.
That said, this is definitely a book we’d have picked up for our son when he was young and not also kept, as we’ve done with our favorites amongst his really good non-fiction kids’ books, planning on handing them down when he has children of his own. As you might assume, then, highly recommended for home and school libraries.
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In terms of the information, it is fantastic. The information is concise and (mostly) clear, the diagrams and illustrations are clarifying as they should be, it covers a wide swathe of topics, including but not limited to cosmological time, the history of timekeeping devices from sundials to water clocks to pendulum and crystal time-keeping to atomic clocks, calendars (solar and lunar), the division of time into weeks, days, and hours; biographical sketches of important figures (that do not ignore the contributions of women, people of color, non-Westerners), psychological perspectives of time and how they change, and more.
I had only two minor quibbles. One is that it is a somewhat oddly broad level of knowledge. It’s explanation of how to read clocks, or what weeks and days are seems aimed at the very young. While its descriptions and vocabulary in other areas are aimed at much older kids. Obviously, the young ones can skip the tougher parts, and the old ones can skip/skim the obvious parts, but it still struck me as aiming at too wide an audience in terms of prior knowledge/age. Generally, I’d say it’s mostly aimed at kids in the 10-15 range. While younger ones will certainly learn something, the vocab and amount may be a bit much. The second quibble is a common one I have with younger non-fiction, which is that the pages can often feel a little cluttered with multiple sections, insets, text boxes, separate images and topics, etc. and a few times the connections between some of those on the same page seemed more than a little tenuous. It’s not terrible, but a more streamlined approach would be helpful for the intended audience I think.
That said, this is definitely a book we’d have picked up for our son when he was young and not also kept, as we’ve done with our favorites amongst his really good non-fiction kids’ books, planning on handing them down when he has children of his own. As you might assume, then, highly recommended for home and school libraries.
.
October 29, 2025
About Time is the meeting point of art and physics. Master watchmaker Rebecca Struthers and scientist Alom Shaha distill humanity’s entire, sweeping story of time into a single, beautiful volume for young readers. It is a guide not just to the hands of the clock, but to the pulse of the universe itself.
Struthers unwinds the history of human invention, tracing the evolution of timekeeping from the shadow-play of ancient sundials to the whirring complexity of modern gears. We follow the rhythm of history, learning how different people—including those often forgotten by textbooks—measured their passing days and seasons.
Shaha then lifts our gaze skyward, connecting the precise clockwork on our wrist to the slow, steady turning of the cosmos. Concepts of celestial time and calendars are made clear and wondrous. The pages themselves are a visual song, filled with bright, gorgeous illustrations that turn complex diagrams into moments of pure insight.
This is a deep breath of knowledge and beauty. About Time elevates timekeeping from a simple chore to a grand, shared human story. It is an essential book for any child ready to look up and truly listen to the steady tick of the world.
Struthers unwinds the history of human invention, tracing the evolution of timekeeping from the shadow-play of ancient sundials to the whirring complexity of modern gears. We follow the rhythm of history, learning how different people—including those often forgotten by textbooks—measured their passing days and seasons.
Shaha then lifts our gaze skyward, connecting the precise clockwork on our wrist to the slow, steady turning of the cosmos. Concepts of celestial time and calendars are made clear and wondrous. The pages themselves are a visual song, filled with bright, gorgeous illustrations that turn complex diagrams into moments of pure insight.
This is a deep breath of knowledge and beauty. About Time elevates timekeeping from a simple chore to a grand, shared human story. It is an essential book for any child ready to look up and truly listen to the steady tick of the world.
August 28, 2025
"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
DK Children has always been a reliable resource for fact based books. This book on time was no exception. It was an interesting mix of how to tell time, time keeping devices, and different units of time. It was really well done and seemed comprehensive.
DK Children has always been a reliable resource for fact based books. This book on time was no exception. It was an interesting mix of how to tell time, time keeping devices, and different units of time. It was really well done and seemed comprehensive.
September 5, 2025
What a breathtaking book. I would have read this over and over as a child and learned new things as an adult. So beautifully explained with gorgeous artwork, highly recommended. I will be buying this for presents!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews