Time To Play

PreS-Gr 2–Olivia has it made. She can play all day, every day, anytime, or anywhere. Her imagination knows no bounds and no worries plague her—until she spies a strange ticking contraption. What is it? What does it do? She straps it on and finds herself face to face with Time. Time revels in its newfound freedom and drags protesting Olivia in its wake. She is no longer in charge of her seconds, minutes, or hours—the genie of the wristwatch is the boss. She just wants to play in her own way at her own pace. Olivia decides to unstrap the watch, allowing herself to be free. Time is invited to come along for some freestyle fun, not as a dictator but as a friend. Argentinian author/illustrator Mastrogiulio produces the naïve-style images of a child’s world. Calm blue is Olivia’s color while the autocratic genie of the wristwatch is frenzied red. Visual puns abound: “No time to lose,” “Time waits for no man” (or girl), “Time ran away from me.” The monsterlike visage of time incarnate epitomizes society’s manic obsession with schedules and the clock. The original Spanish edition is also available.