Time Is a Flower

by Julie Morstad

Overview

A playful and poignant exploration of the nature of time through the eyes of a child from acclaimed author/illustrator Julie Morstad.

What is time? Is it the tick tick tock of a clock, numbers and words on a calendar? It's that, but so much more. Time is a seed waiting to grow, a flower blooming, a sunbeam moving across a room. Time is slow like a spider spinning her web or fast like a wave at the beach. Time is a wiggly tooth, or waiting for the school bell to ring, or reading a story . . . or three! But time is also morning for some and night for others, a fading sunset and a memory captured in a photo taken long ago.

In this magical meditation on the nature of time, Julie Morstad shines a joyful light on a difficult-to-grasp concept for young readers and reminds older readers to see the wonders of our world, including children themselves, through the lens of time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735267541
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	09/21/2021
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	1,108,420
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 11.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

JULIE MORSTAD is an award-winning author and illustrator. She has written the picture books Today and the Governor General's Literary Award finalist How To. Her beautiful illustrations can be found in numerous books such as It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way; Julia, Child; This Is Sadie and, most recently, Girl on a Motorcycle. In 2018 she designed a permanent stamp for Canada Post. Julie lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her family.

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/07/2021

“Time is the tick tick tock/ of the/ clock/ and/ numbers and words on a calendar.// But what else is time?” This ethereal book of ideas by Morstad (Girl on a Motorcycle) captures variations on how time passes in lyrical writing and images that offer moments of wonder and change. Multimedia spreads capture the way that time can be seen in the movement of sun across the floor, the rising of bread dough, the growth of flora: “Time is a tree./ While it grows, so do you./ Who will be taller in two years?/ In ten years?” In one spread, Morstad draws an inclusive array of maturing faces, starting with children and imagining them aging into young people or middle-aged people with lined skin: “Time is a face whose lines and shapes change little by little, year by year.” Other spreads show how the temporal can move quickly or slowly, be caught in an image and suspended, and even visualized (“Is time a line? Or maybe a circle?”), before the book’s end cleverly brings readers right into a specific moment in a child’s day: dinnertime. A conceptual meditation, winsome and enigmatic. Ages 3–7. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

WINNER of the 2022 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award!
Nominated for the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for Young People — Illustrated Text

A 2021 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book
A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids (2021)
A Toronto Public Library’s “First and Best 2021” Book Pick
A Booklist Top Ten Picture Books Selection

"An exploration of the concept of time is a daunting premise for a children’s book, but Morstad pulls it off with panache. Her warm, friendly renderings in pencil, marker and ink distill the book’s abstract ideas with ingenuity and simplicity." —New York Times

"[You’re] in sure hands with Julie Morstad, one of the most gifted artists making picture books today." —Mac Barnett, author of The Wolf, The Duck, and the Mouse and the Shape Trilogy

"Thoughtful metaphors and diverse characters take viewers through the manifold dimensions of time. . . . This exuberant vehicle will expand the thinking of those just beginning to comprehend clocks and calendars." —STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews

"A conceptual meditation, winsome and enigmatic." —STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating way to think about the passage of time." —STARRED REVIEW, Booklist

"Morstad’s crisp, fine-lined illustrations convey a hushed and wondrous tone. Her spreads are uncluttered and spacious, with grayscale pencil drawings of children and colors that pop off the page." —BookPage

"Time is a Flower is another elegant production from Julie Morstad’s endless imagination." —Imaginary Elevators

“Morstad’s detailed images capture the movement of time from a child’s point of view, while giving readers of all ages a chance to reflect on the cycle of life.” —Postmedia

From the Publisher

★ 2021-06-29
A series of thoughtful metaphors and diverse characters takes viewers through the manifold dimensions of time.

In how to(2013), Morstad playfully portrays concepts both invisible (the breeze, bravery) and discernible (washing socks). In this companion volume, she tackles time. Like a spiderweb, time is difficult to see; like cut hair, it disappears after growth. Minutes move slowly at school and speed by as a wave knocks over a sand castle. Morstad’s lyrical language is perfectly paced: “Time is a song. / Dancing you quick!” These lines are paired with three solitary figures in dresses, each superimposed on itself several times in variations of movement and tonality. Across the gutter, the text reads: “Or pulling you, / long and stretching, / slow and low, / to the sound of a cello.” Here a Black child is shown in an interlocking sequence of nine steps, each iteration contributing to a rainbow effect. Assorted colors (with a cheerful magenta playing a prominent role), sizes, and patterns create visual pleasure and make the abstract concrete, while solid, spacious backgrounds prompt contemplation. The spread showing that “Time is a sunbeam…” contrasts a sleeping cat in the warm shadows cast by plants at a sunlit window with the facing page’s black silhouettes and a repositioned animal absorbing changed light.

This exuberant vehicle will expand the thinking of those just beginning to comprehend clocks and calendars. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews