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Fix That Clock
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A construction crew rebuilds a rickety old clock tower that has become home to wild animals in this picture book for fans of Sheep in a Jeep and Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.
An underlying message of cooperation and conservation drives this rollicking introduction to counting and shapes.
The old clock tower used to stand tall and proud. Now, it's rusty, dusty, mo ...more
An underlying message of cooperation and conservation drives this rollicking introduction to counting and shapes.
The old clock tower used to stand tall and proud. Now, it's rusty, dusty, mo ...more
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Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
November 26th 2019
by HMH Books for Young Readers
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Fix That Clock is a really fun little book. It incorporates rhymes, numbers, shapes, and onomatopoeia to create a cute story about the repair of a decrepit clock tower.
The old clock tower is falling apart. So three builders come along to fix it. As they repair and replace, they dislodge a number of critters that have made their homes in the tower. But these are kindhearted folks, and they take the animals into account when they finish the job. The book ends on a sweet note.
The meter of the rhymi ...more
The old clock tower is falling apart. So three builders come along to fix it. As they repair and replace, they dislodge a number of critters that have made their homes in the tower. But these are kindhearted folks, and they take the animals into account when they finish the job. The book ends on a sweet note.
The meter of the rhymi ...more

Richie’s Picks: FIX THAT CLOCK by Kurt Cyrus, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, November 2019, 40p., ISBN: 978-1-328-90408-9
“Inertia - a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged”
— online definition from prezi.com
“Some of them were angry
At the way the Earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour”
— Jackson Browne, “Before the Deluge” (1974)
“The United States began ...more
“Inertia - a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged”
— online definition from prezi.com
“Some of them were angry
At the way the Earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour”
— Jackson Browne, “Before the Deluge” (1974)
“The United States began ...more

Full of rhythm and rhyme, this picture book takes a broken down clock and rebuilds it. The clock is teetering and old, with the structure and the clock no longer functional. The only things that live in it are the wild animals who have moved in. So three builders arrive to change all of that. Floor-by-floor, they transform the zigzag of crooked walls into straight new boards and squares. The clock too gets reworked and soon the tower is straight and working once again. But what will happen to th
...more

A clock tower has fallen into disrepair. Rhyming text describes the current state and the rebuilding that occurs, as well as the occupants of the tower.
We see some colors (blue, black, pink, purple, red, green) and color words, as well as ordinals and cardinal number words (with one-to-one correspondence with the illustrations).
Most math/counting intensive page is
Seven steps upon a stair.
Six are tangled, one is bare.
Five are red. Two are green.
Four are thick and three are lean.
Three are solid. ...more
We see some colors (blue, black, pink, purple, red, green) and color words, as well as ordinals and cardinal number words (with one-to-one correspondence with the illustrations).
Most math/counting intensive page is
Seven steps upon a stair.
Six are tangled, one is bare.
Five are red. Two are green.
Four are thick and three are lean.
Three are solid. ...more

A bouncy rhyme and lots of onomatopoeia make this STEM-y picture book a great modern nursery rhyme. The illustrations show three characters, one tall and thin with brown skin and no hair visible beneath a hard hat, another medium height with pale skin and slightly longer dark hair, and the third a fatter person with white skin and buzz-short hair. The genders of the various characters are never stated; what's more important to the story is how well the team works together to repair the crumbling
...more

I so appreciate Kurt Cyrus as an author and illustrator. His books aren't like everyone else's, and his detailed drawings and emphasis on math concepts are done better than in most picture books.
I read this, along with a number of other books, to my young nieces when I recently went for a visit, and it was a big hit - possibly tied with The Velveteen Rabbit even.
Excellent use of fun vocabulary and onomatopoeia.
Shows carpenters being careful with the wildlife (mice and birds)
All with a lovely su ...more
I read this, along with a number of other books, to my young nieces when I recently went for a visit, and it was a big hit - possibly tied with The Velveteen Rabbit even.
Excellent use of fun vocabulary and onomatopoeia.
Shows carpenters being careful with the wildlife (mice and birds)
All with a lovely su ...more

A fun construction book about rebuilding a clock tower. There are several pages where items are described and counted, so children could spend time finding the one stair that is nailed, the mouse running up a pant leg, or studying the shapes of the windows. Throughout the book, the text mentions that animals who are living in the clock, and at the end, it is nice to see the humans may have changed their home, but they also build little houses for the animals, so they are still welcome at the clo
...more

3 workers arrive to repair a clock that is a bad state of disrepair. Cheerful and dynamic, this fun story is packed with great sound effects and plenty of action. The bright sharp illustrations are packed with details that so much to the story.
I especially love the new houses created for all the dislodged critters. This will make a good read aloud but there is so much to reward careful examination of the illustrations.
Perfect for young builders!
I especially love the new houses created for all the dislodged critters. This will make a good read aloud but there is so much to reward careful examination of the illustrations.
Perfect for young builders!

Adorable! In fun, rhythmic rhyming text that partially matches the cadence of Hickory Dickory Dock, this picture book shows a crumbling old clock and the steps that a group of builders take to fix it. This is sure to be a hit with young construction fans, but also add it to units on Mother Goose. My favorite part is at the end when the builders use their scraps to build houses for all the previous critter occupants of the clock (bats, swallows, mice).

I read this book with a 3 year old, and we loved it together. This was unexpected because the said child prefers pink books (think Pinkalicious, Fancy Nancy, Disney princesses, Angelina Ballerina, etc.). But she loved it. The text has a rhythmical feel. The art is clear. There are things to look for in each picture, such as shapes, animals, colors, the parts of a clock. I would recommend this for a read-aloud for children of all sorts of reading preferences!! A fun book.

Fix That Clock is a beautiful story about a group of people getting together to fix this old falling apart clock. The carpenters, painters, and other helpful people go into it to gently help the "residents" in the clock tower get out while working on the clock tower. This is a great story that shows how we can work together to help make something functional and beautiful again.
Teamwork for the win! ...more
Teamwork for the win! ...more

Another Saturday Stories success. Rhyming and onomatopoeia combine with a friendly, well representative construction crew AND a happy ending for the many little animals first portrayed as invasive pests in the story.
All around nice. Building/construction or rhyming/sound words themed story times will benefit from this read aloud.
All around nice. Building/construction or rhyming/sound words themed story times will benefit from this read aloud.

Wow, I absolutely loved this one! The pictures are so clean and crisp. The text works for the most part. Fixing a clock is a really interesting idea, and I am partial to gears myself. It's fun to see how the clock comes together like new and how everyone and everything is involved in it.
...more

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As other reviewers said, I loved the counting, numbers, shapes, rhymes & onomatopoeia of this book! I think this could be a great mentor text for a Picture-Perfect Science lesson - educators could do a culminating lesson with woodworking, clocks, birdhouses, anything. Maybe even a library makerspace collaboration? I remember doing wood & nail projects in preK and at home and loving them! : )

A good book about fixing an old clock. I like how they made houses for the animals that moved in. The story is very long, so it would be better for an upper elementary read aloud.
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