The Book of Time Outs: A Mostly True History of the World's Biggest Troublemakers [Hardcover]

Deb Lucke (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

The next time you get a time out, take this book and read about the most famous and infamous rabble-rousers in history, from Queen Cleopatra to Babe Ruth!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–6—This attempt to bring stories of adult bad behavior (and civil disobedience) throughout history to children in a humorous way falls flat. Colorful gouache paintings on each spread feature figures from Hannibal and Napoleon Bonaparte to Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks, in their "time-out" locations in jail or in exile. Modern details, such as a garden hose and a "bling, bling" necklace in the Middle Ages, inappropriately appear in some of the pictures. Adults may appreciate the humor but the "mostly true" stories will confuse children. This is not a source for reports and it's just not that amusing.—Erlene Bishop Killeen, Stroughton Area School District, WI
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416928294
• ISBN-13: 978-1416928294
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deb Lucke is a writer and illustrator of children's books with an interest in bad behavior and horribly embarrassing incidents. Since her own childhood had plenty of both she is never short of material.

"The Book of Time Outs"--bad behavior in history.

"The Boy Who Wouldn't Swim"-- bad behavior and a horribly embarrassing incident resulting from fear.

"Never Say Boo!"--no bad behavior or horribly embarrassing incident since it is written by Robin Pulver who has her own interests, in this case, fear.

"Sneezenesia"--horribly embarrassing incident involving sneezes.

Prior to getting involved in children's books Deb worked with a lot of talented people in advertising from whom she learned how to trap and snare an idea. She also studied filmmaking which influenced the way she visually tells her stories. She finds camaraderie in a group of children's book illustrators that meets in the Hudson Valley and a group of writers that meets in New York.

Deb lives and works in Cold Spring with her partner, Paul Hartzell, a writer. Both are occasionally badly behaved.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Kids @ Teens Read Too, March 30, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Time Outs: A Mostly True History of the World's Biggest Troublemakers (Hardcover)

In this absolutely hilarious book, children and parents alike are treated to a "Who's Who?" list of troublemakers, beginning all the way back with the Carthaginian General, Hannibal, and ending with Rosa Parks, who got a time out for doing something that wasn't even really wrong!

Deb Lucke presents each character, from Christopher Columbus to Johann Sebastian Bach to Babe Ruth, as people who made mistakes -- and had to pay the price by getting a time out! There's a lesson to be learned in each short story, whether it be the importance of telling the truth or the fact that it's a bad idea to be a marauding pirate, and it's all done with humour and in a way that's easy for kids to understand.

This isn't a book that tells youngsters it's okay to do something they know is wrong, but it is a book that tells them that everyone makes mistakes. And, sometimes, the only way to make up for those mistakes is with a good old-fashioned time out!

This is one title that's sure to be a winner for all ages!

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A GREAT CONCEPT!, April 3, 2008

By 

C. Cusack "Joan Not John" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Time Outs: A Mostly True History of the World's Biggest Troublemakers (Hardcover)

The Book of Time Outs is a lively examination of bad behavior to which we humans are so inclined. I wish my mother had given me this to read during a time out instead of the Bible.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, along with a bit of History, March 29, 2008

By 

Porgy "Kabuki" (10026) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Time Outs: A Mostly True History of the World's Biggest Troublemakers (Hardcover)

Ranging from ancient history to the present, this wonderfully comical book with its superbly hilarious illustrations present episodes from the lives of famous people who needed a "time out" when they did things which upset others. Not meant entirely to be a history lesson, it is instead a book that introduces to children the notion that even famous and powerful people have had to have "time outs" for behaving badly. Such a refreshing notion for today's world, and perhaps required reading for every military dictator, president and prime minister.