Time Is When

What is time? This question, asked nearly fifty years ago by author Beth Gleick's young son, prompted her to answer in a picture book for preschoolers, using simple language and familiar scenes: "In one second, you can bounce a ball, or jump, or say hello, or turn a page." Beth Gleick's clean turn of phrase cleverly explains the passing of seconds, minutes, hours, on up through seasons and years. First published in 1960, this book is lovingly re-illustrated by collage-artist Marthe Jocelyn, who pays homage to the original art while simultaneously creating a world of her own, cutting patterned papers and printed fabrics with whimsy, ingenuity, and precision of, yes, time. . . .

BETH GLEICK published this book in 1960 to explain the concepts of time to her three-year-old son, James. Not only did Time Is When explain the concept of time to James, it cultivated his own fascination with the subject. James Gleick went on to write best-selling adult books on time, including Chaos and Faster.

Tundra’s MARTHE JOCELYN is an award-winning author and illustrator who worked for many years as a toy designer before turning her hand to writing. Her picture book Hannah’s Collections was short-listed for a Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustration. Her novel Mable Riley won the first TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. She has created eight picture books, four original board books, written seven novels, one work of nonfiction for older readers, and edited two collections of short stories.