30 Days of Diverse Picture Books - At the Same Moment, Around the World by Clotilde Perrin

It's Day 22 of our 30 Days of Diverse Picture Books. For those who are new to our blog, Sprout was born in Ethiopia. He feels a deep connection to his country of birth. Sprout's aware that Ethiopia is ten hours ahead of us on the clock - often at his bedtime we talk about how his family will be waking up soon. It comforts him, I think, to be aware that while he is sleeping, he has family awake keeping him in their thoughts.

That's probably why I love books like At the Same Moment, Around the World so much. In this title, author/illustrator Clotilde Perrin connects people around the world by examining the events that are going on in different areas through the construct of time zones. This can be a tricky thing for kids to understand, but Perrin explains it beautifully. Even better, she establishes a personal connection by identifying not just an activity that would be going on in a particular place, but an individual who might be doing it. So readers quickly come to realize that while Sofia in Bulgaria is on her way to school, Abby in Samoa is preparing dinner.

This is kind of mind-blowing; expect it to take a few read-throughs of At the Same Moment before kids really grasp what Perrin is teaching them. It helps that the book features a large fold-out world map at the end, to assist with a visual way of understanding the time zone concept. Also, I must add that the artwork is fantastic - evocative and full of the kind of small details kids love to examine at length. The cover on its own illustrates the book's premise beautifully. I suggest looking that over carefully before you start to read, just to set the tone.

At the Same Moment, Around the World is a delightful tool to help bolster the notion of global citizenship. Think our copy will be going in for show-and-tell -- if, that is, Sprout ever gets done looking at it!

At the Same Moment, Around the World by Clotilde Perrin, published by Chronicle Books