From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-In 1707, after nearly 2000 sailors and four ships were lost in one stormy night off England's coast, Parliament passed the Longitude Act guaranteeing 20,000 pounds sterling ($12 million today) for a method to navigate the seas with certitude. It was known that latitude could be measured, but to determine longitude-distance east or west of a point-a method had yet to be devised. In an engaging manner, Lasky relates the mad ideas that were considered, including barking dogs, tiptoeing, and a fire on deck before examining the inventive life and mind of a genius who solved the problem. John Harrison, a village carpenter and a self-taught polymath, elegantly reasoned that the answer lay in a timepiece itself. It would take more than 35 years and five prototypes before Harrison was satisfied, although his very first model barely lost a second on its first voyage. It would take a petition to the king before the inventor's solution won any prize money, and even then, he was refused the prize. Perhaps it is the combination of the elegance of his solution and the injustice of its resolution that has made Harrison's story so popular. With Hawkes's luminous full-color paintings on every page, its clear science, and its compelling social commentary, this title is not to be missed.Dona Ratterree, New York City Public SchoolsCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. Executed in an oversize format, which allows plenty of space for Hawkes' dramatic pictures, this tells the story of John Harrison, an eighteenth-century clock maker who solved the problem of tracking longitude in shipboard navigation. The book begins with a shipwreck, dramatizing the fact that the longitude puzzle was not just a matter of academic or economic importance but a life-and-death question for those who sailed the seas. After introducing some of the more absurd solutions proposed for tracking longitude, the discussion turns to young John Harrison, who was 21 when the Longitude Prize was offered by the British Parliament. Lasky shows how, over the next half-century, Harrison worked to design and perfect a timepiece that would earn the prize. Not every child will understand the technical challenge discussed; however, the text makes absorbing reading both for its sidelights on history and for the personal drama portrayed. Harrison emerges as an admirable, if idiosyncratic, individual whose story is well worth telling. Atmospherically lit and richly colored, Hawkes' large-scale paintings are often striking in their overall effects and intriguing in their details. Unexpected elements of humor in both the historical narrative and the illustrations lighten what could have been a dry, weighty treatment in other hands. Teachers looking for books for units on inventors will find this a memorable choice for reading aloud. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"The text makes absorbing reading both for its sidelights on history as well as the personal drama portrayed...Teachers looking for books for units on inventors will find this a memorable choice for reading aloud." -- Starred, Booklist

“The Man Who Made Time Travel provides delightful insight into the inspiring story of John Harrison. Kathryn Lasky’s compelling text and Kevin Hawkes’s imaginative and captivating illustrations bring to life Harrison’s long struggle and eventual triumph in solving the longitude problem, which had baffled the greatest scientists for more than two centuries.” -- William J. H. Andrewes, co-author of The Illustrated Longitude

"With Hawkes's luminous full-color paintings on every page, its clear science, and its compelling social commentary, this title is not to be missed." -- Starred, School Library Journal

"Younger readers will discover both the historical significance of Harrison's invention and why he 'became the hero not only of clockmakers, but of dreamers and ordinary people everywhere who learned by doing and daring.'" -- Starred, Kirkus Reviews



Review
"The text makes absorbing reading both for its sidelights on history as well as the personal drama portrayed...Teachers looking for books for units on inventors will find this a memorable choice for reading aloud." -- Starred, Booklist

“The Man Who Made Time Travel provides delightful insight into the inspiring story of John Harrison. Kathryn Lasky’s compelling text and Kevin Hawkes’s imaginative and captivating illustrations bring to life Harrison’s long struggle and eventual triumph in solving the longitude problem, which had baffled the greatest scientists for more than two centuries.” -- William J. H. Andrewes, co-author of The Illustrated Longitude

"With Hawkes's luminous full-color paintings on every page, its clear science, and its compelling social commentary, this title is not to be missed." -- Starred, School Library Journal

"Younger readers will discover both the historical significance of Harrison's invention and why he 'became the hero not only of clockmakers, but of dreamers and ordinary people everywhere who learned by doing and daring.'" -- Starred, Kirkus Reviews



Book Description
Who would solve one of the most perplexing scientific problems of all time?

This dramatic picture-book biography brings to life – with illustrations that glow with wit and inspiration – the fascinating story of the quest to measure longitude. While the scientific establishment of the eighteenth century was certain that the answer lay in mapping the heavens, John Harrison, an obscure, uneducated clockmaker, dared to imagine a different solution: a seafaring clock. How Harrison held fast to his vision and dedicated his life to the creation of a small jewel of a timepiece that would change the world is a compelling story – as well as a memorable piece of history, science, and biography.

A Junior Library Guild Selection


Card catalog description
Describes the need for sailors to be able to determine their position at sea and the efforts of John Harrison, an eighteenth century man who spent his life refining instruments to enable them to do this.

About the Author
Kathryn Lasky’s honors and awards include the Washington Post Children’s Book Award for her contribution to nonfiction. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Kevin Hawkes has illustrated many award-winning picture books, including The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, also by Kathryn Lasky, a School Library Journal Best Book. He lives in Gorham, Maine.

ANNOTATION

Describes the need for sailors to be able to determine their position at sea and the efforts of John Harrison, an eighteenth century man who spent his life refining instruments to enable them to do this.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This dramatic picture-book biography brings to life-with illustrations that glow with wit and inspiration-the fascinating story of the quest to measure longitude. While the scientific establishment of the eighteenth century was certain that the answer lay in mapping the heavens, John Harrison, an obscure, uneducated clockmaker, dared to imagine a different solution: a seafaring clock. How Harrison held fast to his vision and dedicated his life to the creation of a small jewel of a timepiece that would change the world is a compelling story-as well as a memorable piece of history, science, and biography.

FROM THE CRITICS

The Washington Post

Lasky balances the science and the human drama of Harrison's story nicely, and Kevin Hawkes's double-spread paintings are as witty as they are luminous. And how about that clever title? — Elizabeth Ward

Publishers Weekly

Lasky and Hawkes (previously teamed for The Librarian Who Measured the Earth) turn their attention to John Harrison, the 18th-century British clockmaker who solved one of history's most vexing navigational problems. Tackling her subject in short, titled segments, Lasky gets off to a bumpy start as she attempts to build a foundational understanding of the complicated role that time plays in measuring longitude (Latitude... is easier to find than longitude because one can measure the height of the sun at noon). But as soon as Lasky turns to Harrison, who spent a lifetime doggedly perfecting a sea-going clock, her prose becomes clear and compelling. Her colorful storytelling provides both a snapshot of history as well as an appreciation for Harrison's remarkable determination and persistence. Hawkes contributes characteristically dappled paintings marked by deft use of light and shadow. His sly sense of humor leavens the information-laden text. An illustration for the dubious Time on Tiptoe Method of determining longitude, for example, finds a cat and rat peering at the night sky on tiptoe alongside two sailors. Many spreads are masterfully envisioned (a beautifully lit group of white-wigged astronomers gathered in an observatory at night is a case in point), and while Hawkes's style is soft-focus, he imparts the impression of the details so important to Harrison. Endpapers feature one of the celebrated timepieces. Ages 8-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Edie Ching

A complex story, Kathy Lasky manages to cover, in picture book format, why there was a need to measure a ship's true location, the various theories that were proposed after the Longitude prize was announced, and then the delicate and tedious work by John Harrison, a self-educated man, to make the "perfect" instrument. Hawkes' illustrations, from the opening end pages, really compliment the text and add to the appeal of the book. Little details, such as the fact that Harrison got seasick on a trial voyage of his mechanism add to the reader's interest. In the end notes Lasky writes that science and math are not her strongest suits and not all points about the clock are clearly explained (one that comes to mind is why a pendulum relates to gravity while a swinging mechanism does not), but I don't think this book has to do that. 2003, Farrar Straus and Giroux, Ages 10 to 14.

School Library Journal

If you were offered 12 million dollars to solve a navigational problem, could you do it? It took John Harrison, an 18th-century clockmaker, about 40 years to do so. In those years of relentless work, Harrison perfected his seafaring clock that allowed sailors to measure longitude. Luminous, full-page paintings illustrate the book. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews