Time Flies (Caldecott Honor Book) [Hardcover]

Eric Rohmann (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Caldecott Honor Book

Time Flies , a wordless picture book, is inspired by the theory that birds are the modern relatives of dinosaurs.  This story conveys the tale of a bird trapped in a dinosaur exhibit at a natural history museum.  Through Eric's use of color, readers can actually see the bird enter into a mouth of a dinosaur, and then escape unscathed.

Eric Rohmann's Caldecott Honor-winning debut is now available as a Dragonfly paperback. It is at once a wordless time-travel adventure and a meditation on the scientific theory that dinosaurs were the evolutionary ancestors of birds. The New York Times Book Review called Time Flies "a work of informed imagination and masterly storytelling unobtrusively underpinned by good science...an entirely absorbing narrative made all the more rich by its wordlessness." Kirkus Reviews hailed it as "a splendid debut."  

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Yes, no--it's a metaphor! Rohmann's wordless first book shows a bird flying into a dinosaur museum one dark and stormy night. The bird flits about, perching on a dinosaur jaw and soaring on. As it flies past one particular behemoth, the bones of the creature are suddenly cloaked in flesh; the bird has entered a prehistoric landscape. A dinosaur eventually swallows the bird, but as it wings its way down the creature's throat and through its digestive system, the would-be predator is transformed to a skeleton and the bird returns once again to the museum hall. The meaning of this exercise is unclear, although a jacket note explains that Rohmann was "inspired by the theory that birds are the modern relatives of the dinosaurs." The target audience will likely be mystified. Slightly older readers, however, might be intrigued by the time-travel conceit and the scientifically minded will be wowed by Rohmann's oil paintings, which capture the textures of bone, tooth, eyeball, etc., with as much attentiveness and morbidity as, say, an 18th-century still life of gamebirds. Ages 4-9.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-In this wordless journey back in time, a bird flies into a museum filled with dinosaur skeletons. The walls dissolve and the skeletons take on flesh, coming to life. In a dramatic picture, the bird is eaten by what appears to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex. But the dinosaur's flesh fades away, as gradually and mysteriously as it had first appeared, and the bird flies free, easily escaping from what is again nothing but bones. The columns of the museum's grand hall reappear, and the bird flies off into the sky, watched by a pterodactyl gargoyle. This impressive effort is rather like David Wiesner's Tuesday (Clarion, 1991), sharing its elements of technical expertise and surreal fantasy. Rohmann's oil paintings (all double-page spreads) show the inside of the museum in warm, burnished browns and reds, while the colors are cooler and more varied in the outdoor light of the prehistoric scenes. Unusual perspectives and striking compositions and images make for a dynamic and intriguing book. The picture of the bird balanced on the teeth of the skeleton is a remarkable juxtaposition of delicacy and strength. This title has potential for classroom use- when studying paleontology or evolution, preparing for a field trip, or doing creative writing projects. All in all, a title that children will love.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517595982
• ISBN-13: 978-0517595985
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 0.4 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Rohmann was born in Riverside, Illinois in 1957. He grew up in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago. As a boy, Eric played Little League baseball, read comic books, collected rocks and minerals, insects, leaves, and animal skulls.

Eric has his BS in Art and an MS in Studio Art from Illinois State University, and an MFA in Printmaking/Fine Bookmaking from Arizona State University. He also studied Anthropology and Biology. Eric taught printmaking, painting, and fine bookmaking at Belvoir Terrace in Massachusettes and introductory drawing, fine bookmaking, and printmaking at St. Olaf College in Minnesota.

Eric has created book jackets for a number of novels, including His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman. He won a Caldecott Honor Book award for Time Flies, and a Caldecott Medal award for My Friend Rabbit. Eric has written four children's books: My Friend Rabbit, The Cinder-Eyed Cats, Pumpkinhead, and A Kitten's Tale. He recently illustrated Lois Lowry's Bless This Mouse and an old Scottish poem, Last Song. Look for Bone Dog out in the latter part of 2011.

Eric currently resides in a suburb of Chicago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginations will flow!, January 14, 2001

By 

"valleyblossom" (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Flies (Paperback)

I often use this beautifully illustrated book in my classroom of 3-5 year olds. As the children view the pictures they begin talking about what they see happening without any facillitation from me. This is an excellent book to use in the classroom to promote language! Everytime we read it our plot changes a little bit! This book should be in every classroom library!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When you're having fun, January 12, 2006

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Flies (Caldecott Honor Book) (Hardcover)

I wonder what the process is behind author/illustrators of picture books making their very first wordless title. Is it something they all secretly want to do but only a few dare to? Does everyone make one and then publishers get scared and refuse to publish them? Why are there only a few on the market today? Obviously when Eric Rohmann's, "Time Flies" won the Caldecott Honor it probably raised the status of wordless picture books everywhere. I'm not suggesting that it was the first book of its kind or even the best but since its publication we've enjoyed other wordless titles like fellow Honor, "The Red Book" by Barbara Lehman and "The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, and the Bard" by Gregory Rogers. Eric Rohmann would later go on to garner the full Caldecott Award for, "My Friend Rabbit", a book done in a style entirely different from that of most of his work. By and large Rohmann feels more comfortable with gentle surrealism as in, "Cinder-Eyed Cats" and "Clara and Asha", though he's not afraid to go off and make a "Pumpkinhead" for the heck of it. In "Time Flies" we are taken on a wordless trip back and forth through time with a creature that may well be visiting his own ancestors.

On a dark and stormy orange-skied night, a small bird flies into a natural history museum of some sort. As the bird glides, perches, and looks about the hall full of bones, things begin to change around it. A bolt of lightning lights up the scene and before you know it the bird has been sent back in time to when dinosaurs weren't macabre displays but living breathing creatures. The bird flaps about brontosaurus, flies just in front of pterodactyls, and finally (in a surprise move on Rohmann's part) is snapped up by the T-Rex. Don't fret for the birdy, though. Suddenly we're with it, flying down the T-Rex's throat. An increasingly bony throat. The bird flies out of the back of the skeleton and into a half-past half-present world. As it escapes into the night a pterodactyl statue views it keenly from its perch.

Though the book makes no reference to this, I did like the juxtaposition of a bird with dinosaurs. The theory that birds are descended from the dinos is more than convincing and it would have been nice if Rohmann had slipped in a clever allusion here or there. To be fair though, this book came out in 1994 and the theory was hardly as widespread then as it is now. Rohmann plays with light and shadow in this book, conjuring up horror films and dark noirs with his use of dark tones and flickers. I give him great kudos for the moment in which the bird gets snapped up. One minute it's there. The next a T¬-Rex is looking mighty pleased with itself as some feathers float gently to the forest floor. The thrill of shock kids will feel will be immediately alleviated by the safe n' sound feathered one booking it to the back of the monster's throat. Still, it's the moment that counts. And it's lovely.

The book bears some slight similarities to "Fledgling" by Robert J. Blake in that both books offer lush views of a small bird flying through unbelievable perils. A pairing of the two together would make for an excellent bird-centric private storytime. Of course the obvious pairing here is with anything made by David Wiesner. "Sector 7" or "Tuesday" (both wordless) perfected this kind of realistic surrealism in mute picture books. Rohmann does a nice enough job, but "Time Flies" lacks Wiesner's panache and oomph. It's just an awfully nice title with dinosaurs for the ancient-reptile-centric. All in all, I would not hesitate in the least to recommend this book to every kiddie that clamors for it. A great book and an enjoyable ride.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LANDMARK DEBUT IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, April 3, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Flies (Caldecott Honor Book) (Hardcover)

Eric Rohmann has made numrous contributions to the annals of children's literature since his estimable debut "Time Flies." I think often of and return to "The Cinder-Eyed Cat" for pure enjoyment.

However, "Time Flies" was the beginning - when our eyes were first arrested by the boldness of his vision as he took readers on an imaginary journey to prehistoric times.

As exciting today as it was when first published "Time flies" would be a most welcome gift for any child.