8 Children’s Picture Books About Telling Time

A group of lovable young space travelers teach kids about time in this fun picture book. They can’t wait for their pizza party later in the day, but as they explore space, they also explore the difference between seconds, minutes, and hours. Will they be ready in time for take-off?

It’s about time to discover all the things you can do in 24 hours. “It’s about time to wake up…It’s about time to learn, to play, to read.” And at the end of the day, “it’s about time to cuddle up in the blankets and to dream.” With sweet illustrations depicting daily activities, this charming picture book serves as an early introduction to the concept of time.

The CATegorial cats explain increments of time from seconds to minutes to hours to days to weeks to months to years to decades, and all the tools we can use to measure them—like cellphones, calendars, watches, and computers—in this funny, playful, and colorful rhyming book.

Why do we need to tell time? This easy introduction to telling time will make children laugh as they learn about analog and digital clocks. What does the big and the little hand mean? Learning to tell time will be a lot of fun with this children’s book.

We all know how the nursery rhyme goes—at one, the mouse ran up the clock. But when the clock strikes two, an angry cat hankers for mouse-tail stew, and an epic chase commences. Every hour, a new animal appears to join the cumulative madness—and for 12 hours straight, a parade of creatures, critters, and even people race to the barnyard, through the kitchen, and straight into the middle of town.

Oh those five mischievous monkeys—they manage to trick Mr. Crocodile time and time again. And it’s a good thing too—he had grand plans to trap and eat them. But, by the time the clock strikes six, the silly, playful monkeys have managed to teach Mr. Crocodile a lesson in friendship and fun. (Spoiler alert: friends don’t eat friends.)

Welcome to “American Batstand,” a 12-hour rock-around-the-clock party, hosted by Click Dark, featuring a crew of boogying bats who can jitter and jive with the best of ’em. Watching the big and little arrows move has never been such a hand-clapping, finger-snapping, toe-tapping, wing-flapping good time.

Another great picture book from Joan Sweeney’s popular Me Series. A young boy is excited about his seventh birthday coming up and discovers all the many units of time that are part of everyday life. This colorful story is a wonderful introduction to the concept of time for kids.