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All in a Day
Ten outstanding artists illustrate the similarities and differences in children and their activities in eight different parts of the world throughout one 24-hour day. Features artwork from Raymond Briggs, Ron Brooks, Eric Carle, Gian Calvi, Zhu Chengliang, Leo and Diane Dillon, Akiko Hayashi , and Nicolai Ye. Popov.
32 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Mitsumasa Anno
247 books78 followersHis name is written as 安野光雅 in Japanese.
Mitsumasa Anno (born March 20, 1926) was a Japanese illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books with few or no words. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1984 for his "lasting contribution to children's literature".
Source: Wikipedia.
Mitsumasa Anno (born March 20, 1926) was a Japanese illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books with few or no words. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1984 for his "lasting contribution to children's literature".
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 20, 2009
I like the premise of this book more than the actual book. Peeking in on children from around the world as portrayed by some of the most famous authors and illustrators from around the world is a creative concept. I'm not sure the text and illustrations are actually supposed to correspond, but I found the way they are placed on the page confusing.
October 20, 2020
What an amazing book! A fantastic idea that connects children to other children across the world and encourages them to think outside of their own life and what they experience and consider the children in other countries across the world. This book could be an excellent starting point for a geographical study of different countries and cultures, it certainly got my attention and sparked my interest in our globe. The book beautifully depicts what is happening across the world at the same time, it's midnight in England, 3am in Kenya, 10pm in Brazil and 9am in Japan.
February 6, 2015
This international book focuses on similarities between children in various countries. They show what these children do at a specific time during the day (hint the title). This book is great for showing cultural similarities and differences. This book focuses on the words instead of the illustrations which are not the focal point of the page. This book for young children promotes respect and understanding among children all over.
December 27, 2016
فكرة الكتاب ممتازة، فهو يعرض ٢٤ساعة في حياة (٨ أطفال) من دول مختلفة، كيف يقضون أوقاتهم منذ استيقاظهم من النوم حتى عودتهم إلى الفراش ليلاً -- مع مراعات فروقات الزمن--
الرسومات لمجموعة من الرسامين كل منهم رسم طفلاً من جنسية محددة مما أضفى ثراءاً نوعياً للكتاب، أعتقد أنه من الأجمل مطالعة الكتاب مع قارئ صغير لأن الانطباعات ستختلف بشكل ملحوظ.
August 23, 2023
Illustrated by ten well known children’s book artists from various countries allows for me to enjoy a broad range of artistic styles. The point of the text is there are children all around the world doing children’s activities, but it isn’t the same time all around the world. An artistic title that can be used as a supplemental title when teaching world time zones and the rotation of the earth.
March 25, 2018
This is an interesting book about children and peace around the world. It has very little text but art by ten artists.
July 15, 2020
Such a beautiful story, though it was a little confusing to read.
August 29, 2023
A creative way to show kids what is happening on other parts of the earth at the same time. Very cute.
June 15, 2016
I have had so many requests since I started working at Barnes & Noble for multicultural children's books, and the honest and sad truth is that there are really only a few and fewer that we keep on the shelves, so I was excited to come across this one while shelving books last night. All in a Day all but defines multicultural. It's a fascinating concept: to track eight different characters in eight different countries through a 24-hour cycle. In attempt to weave the depictions together, a ninth character, who is stranded on an uncharted island is created. His is the narrative voice. He calls out to the other eight, describing what they are up to at a given point and pleading for rescue from the island where he has been shipwrecked. Its a fantastical concept; there's no explanation for how these messages are transmitted or received, but that hardly matters.
This book has come to be through the combined efforts of ten author/illustrators, including such famous names as Eric Carle (the others I can only assume are well-known in their own countries but have sadly not carried over to the US). Each of the different characters is taken on by a different illustrator from a different country. Theoretically, then, there may even be a cultural difference in the depiction of the characters and scenes (though in truth, I think that more of a schooling difference as some of the illustrations are more classical, some are more whimsical, but the illustrations tend not to err towards the "native" or traditional). The average days of these characters more clearly explore cultural differences, where the British boy sleeps in a bed and the Japanese girl sleeps on a mattress on the floor beside her parents, the American boy is sent to bed while the parents celebrate the New Year while the Chinese boy stays awake to set off firecrackers and watch the fireworks. The illustrators compare dreams too, specifically those of a Kenyan boy and the Russian.
The sparse text can be difficult to follow, particularly as the narrative character is set out of line of the others and is the most washed-out, making him difficult to see, and almost assumes some prior knowledge of the cultures, which I found difficult. The characters are not labeled with their names but with their countries and the current time and can only really be labeled by the narrator who will mention either their country or what the happen to be doing or may drop a word in their language. Not all of them are labeled on the first page either, so there are strangers whose lives the reader is following, some of them strangers almost through the whole of the book. This is a book I had to read twice to grasp, and I would have liked to have read more and with more focus.
I would have liked more time to digest this book. Its illustrations are its main feature and I think would benefit from some thorough exploration.
In the back of the book are two pages of further explanation and facts for older readers, which I didn't get to read. It included explanations of how the earth turning creates daytime and night and some information about how timezones work.
This will not be my first choice for a multicultural book (it reminds me a great deal of the all-but-wordless Mirror by Jeannie Baker, which I think more easily captures this concept, though that covers only two cultures, and I do not know that Miss Baker has the intimate knowledge of both cultures that these illustrators have with the cultures that they are depicting), but I do certainly appreciate how many cultures the authors capture in a brief 32 pages and the narrator's attempt at a humorous and cohesive narrative to string together the illustrations.
This book has come to be through the combined efforts of ten author/illustrators, including such famous names as Eric Carle (the others I can only assume are well-known in their own countries but have sadly not carried over to the US). Each of the different characters is taken on by a different illustrator from a different country. Theoretically, then, there may even be a cultural difference in the depiction of the characters and scenes (though in truth, I think that more of a schooling difference as some of the illustrations are more classical, some are more whimsical, but the illustrations tend not to err towards the "native" or traditional). The average days of these characters more clearly explore cultural differences, where the British boy sleeps in a bed and the Japanese girl sleeps on a mattress on the floor beside her parents, the American boy is sent to bed while the parents celebrate the New Year while the Chinese boy stays awake to set off firecrackers and watch the fireworks. The illustrators compare dreams too, specifically those of a Kenyan boy and the Russian.
The sparse text can be difficult to follow, particularly as the narrative character is set out of line of the others and is the most washed-out, making him difficult to see, and almost assumes some prior knowledge of the cultures, which I found difficult. The characters are not labeled with their names but with their countries and the current time and can only really be labeled by the narrator who will mention either their country or what the happen to be doing or may drop a word in their language. Not all of them are labeled on the first page either, so there are strangers whose lives the reader is following, some of them strangers almost through the whole of the book. This is a book I had to read twice to grasp, and I would have liked to have read more and with more focus.
I would have liked more time to digest this book. Its illustrations are its main feature and I think would benefit from some thorough exploration.
In the back of the book are two pages of further explanation and facts for older readers, which I didn't get to read. It included explanations of how the earth turning creates daytime and night and some information about how timezones work.
This will not be my first choice for a multicultural book (it reminds me a great deal of the all-but-wordless Mirror by Jeannie Baker, which I think more easily captures this concept, though that covers only two cultures, and I do not know that Miss Baker has the intimate knowledge of both cultures that these illustrators have with the cultures that they are depicting), but I do certainly appreciate how many cultures the authors capture in a brief 32 pages and the narrator's attempt at a humorous and cohesive narrative to string together the illustrations.
October 22, 2012
Read this book. Please? Find it. And spend some time reading it. Then please, read it again. And again. It is a beautiful look at a day as illustrated by nine different illustrators from different countries and continents. Each illustrator depicts what happens at a certain hour of day in that country for that child. It is one of the most remarkable children's books I've come across in a long time. It teaches about time zones as well, as each page shows a child in different countries and what time it would be for all those countries. While it's midnight in England, it is later in the day in Australia and China and Japan. Beautiful, intelligent, a great teaching tool and engaging.
Note: the text is supposed to be the little dude in the middle on an island speaking to the different children about their day. That confused me the first time through as I didn't even notice him.
Note: the text is supposed to be the little dude in the middle on an island speaking to the different children about their day. That confused me the first time through as I didn't even notice him.
March 29, 2014
It's a nice book about New Year celebrations all over the world. Very difficult to find truly international children's literature, so this is quite a find! However, the narrative style is a bit much to take in, with a horizontal strip of text running in-between top and bottom rows of illustrations. I'm not sure if reading this out loud in a classroom would be effective, since the illustrations are small. Definitely something to meet at a one-on-one level.
Jack Zipes likes this book a lot, which he talks about in his work Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling.
Jack Zipes likes this book a lot, which he talks about in his work Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling.
March 31, 2010
A neat idea - showing what children all over the world might be doing at the same moment in time - but in practice, I was confused. And I'm a grownup who reads a lot of children's books. I couldn't figure out the relation between the text and the pictures, or sometimes even the pictures, or what the deserted island was all about. (Apparently the kid on the island was called SOS??) A novel concept, but very poorly executed.
P.S. Another gripe about 'see-how-we're-all-really-alike' books like this is that it showcases expectations: Americans are white (and never black), Brits are white (and never Indian), Australians are blond, etc. etc. I just wonder what it really teaches.
P.S. Another gripe about 'see-how-we're-all-really-alike' books like this is that it showcases expectations: Americans are white (and never black), Brits are white (and never Indian), Australians are blond, etc. etc. I just wonder what it really teaches.
April 5, 2011
This was a fun, quirky, endearing book. We opened it up and were in for a surprise. It starts right out with a bizarre story of a person, we don't know who, stranded on a deserted island and calling for help. All over the world, in 8 different time zones, we see children going about their activities for one day or 24 hours. The person on the deserted island talks to each of them, can see what they are doing, and calls for help. It's so funny! Each of the children's stories is illustrated by a different person. We have read the book three times since yesterday. The next time I want my children's attention, I'm going to call, "Josh, stop making kites, and come and help me!" Haha!
September 26, 2013
There is a very interesting theme to this book; however, the story is horrible. The layout of the book is terrible because it was confusing to understand exactly where the text was and what it was saying. The concept of the book was to portray different places around the world, and how each place was during each time of the day. I think it would have been a way better story if the text was cut out and there was only pictures. The text was confusing. However, the theme of the story overall was peace, and how each place, no matter where they were in the world or what time, just wanted peace. I would not use this book in a classroom because I didn't like the text.
May 3, 2011
This was a book that I stumbled upon in my library and without knowing the premise of the book, I was taken in right away. An assortment of tales portraying the lives of children around the world, just like peeking through their windows, and it all occurs over the course of the day. It's a great book to illustrate the diversity in the world, and the difference in customs and cultures and time zones around the world...
March 7, 2012
Famous picture book artists join with Mitsumasa Anno to show what's happening during a 24 hour period in his or her country (US, Japan, Kenya...) and a story ties the scenes all together in the middle of the page. I wish the bottom half were all southern hemisphere countries, to illustrate the differences in weather. The concept of this great and it would tie in nicely with a unit about time and be good for lap reading, but as a story time choice, it would not be engaging. Grades 2+
June 5, 2011
I found the text in the book really odd. So much that I stopped reading it aloud.
We looked at the pictures instead. They are really wonderful. There are illustrations from artists of eight different countries: the U.S., England, U.S.S.R, Japan, Brazil, Kenya, China, and Australia. The artists are actually from these countries so that is neat and makes it authentic.
We looked at the pictures instead. They are really wonderful. There are illustrations from artists of eight different countries: the U.S., England, U.S.S.R, Japan, Brazil, Kenya, China, and Australia. The artists are actually from these countries so that is neat and makes it authentic.
January 30, 2015
All in a Day
by Mitsumasa Anno
a collection of pictures showing events across the world at different time zones and life styles created by artist from each area, the difference of the art work, and experiences are something to cause class discussions
by Mitsumasa Anno
a collection of pictures showing events across the world at different time zones and life styles created by artist from each area, the difference of the art work, and experiences are something to cause class discussions
May 18, 2009
Didn't appeal to my 18 month old.
March 5, 2011
Beautiful illustations tell the tale of a single twenty-four hour period in four countries; America, England, Russia, and Japan.
October 9, 2014
Idea 不错。但是每个故事很浅。没有什么情节
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May 2, 2016Global
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews