by Hazel Hutchins; illus. by Kady Macdonald Denton

Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007

Image from Scholastic

“How long is a second?” asks this concept book from Hazel Hutchins and Kady Denton. “A second is a hiccup – / The time it takes to kiss your mom / Or jump a rope / Or turn around.”  Hutchins’ simple text, which reads like verse and often rhymes, flows easily through the increasing increments of time, beginning with a second and moving through minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.  Each is described by an imaginative string of activities that could fill up each particular length of time, easily relatable to young children.  Denton’s beautiful watercolors follow three playful friends through the year, and there is a sense of movement through the illustrations that echoes the movement of time throughout the book.  A Second is a Hiccup provides a great introduction to time, reminding kids that as “changes come and changes go/ Round and round the years you’ll grow.” 

(This review was originally submitted as part of my picture book overview for Materials for Children class)