With Timothy Mean’s amazing imagination and time machine, anything and anywhere is possible!Join Timothy on a magical rhyming adventure as he skips through time and pranks with pirates, gets daring with dragons, and even teases a T-Rex!“It’s Monday. Hip hip hooray! Where shall we travel in time today?With Timothy Mean, every day is a rhyme in time!
Timothy Mean and the Time Machine by William A. E. Ford was a wonderful little children’s book. Marcelo Simonetti also created some amazing artwork for the book. The rhymes on just about every line would hold a child’s attention and the interesting locations would inspire their imagination. The book is very short, with only about ten pages with text on them. This makes it great to prevent young readers from being intimidated by the size of the book. The book also goes through the days of the week, helping to teach children the names of the days in a fun way.
Being bored one day, a young boy by the name of Timothy Mean decides to build a time machine. He visits Vikings and Pirates on their ships, causing them trouble. He visits his parents while they are children and in school themselves. At one point he even pulls the pants down on an astronaut. No trip in time would be complete without a trip into the future so that is exactly what he does. Timothy also likes playing pranks and being a trouble-maker at each location he visits.
The locations visited and Timothy’s pranks open up chances for discussion with parents and slightly older children. Parents could ask their children all kinds of things about the book. They could ask about if their child would want to walk on the moon, or what they think the future will be like. Parents could ask about what their child would do if they were a pirate or maybe what they think life was like in mid-evil times. Almost any children’s book that encourages children to think and use their imagination is a good one.
I loved the book. What I liked most were the fun rhymes and locations. If I absolutely had to pick something I did not like it would have to be the few lines that did not rhyme as they almost upset the flow of the passage. Though in all honesty, it is not a big issue and for a children’s book writers are somewhat limited on their options to ensure a child would understand.
Target readers for this book are anyone. As a mother, I would feel comfortable reading this book to my children no matter how young. I also feel like this would be a good book for a beginning reader, maybe a page a day. For even more fun and value, parents could have their new readers read the page that goes with the current weekday. Slightly older children and more experienced readers could sit down and read the entire book on their own.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 and plan on getting a physical copy for my own children (I reviewed a digital copy of the book). The book was wonderful and I hope it gains enough popularly that William A. E. Ford creates an entire line of rhyming Timothy Mean books.
Great adventures await, especially with Timothy Mean and the Time Machine. Timothy Mean goes down into his basement and builds a time machine. With a little imagination, he’s able to go to places in the past and even the future every day of the week. One day he’s on a Viking ship traveling the seas while on another day he travels to the future and discovers ice cream is free in every store. Huzzah!
An imaginative feast for the eyes, Timothy Mean and the Time Machine is a must-read. Filled with colorful illustrations, each page delights the senses and matches perfectly with the rhyming verses. Whether in e-copy of print, Timothy Mean and the Time Machine is best read out loud. Like Dr. Seuss, William Ford’s words slide off the tongue with ease while helping children learn to read. A great story teaching kids the value of creativity and imagination, Timothy Mean and the Time Machine is a hit with my family. Highly recommend!
My Rating: 5 stars
First, I want to thank William A.E. Ford for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Timothy Mean and the Time Machine by William A.E. Ford was a very creative, adventure fun filled, and sometimes even comical read. Many children and us big kids at heart would really get a kick out of all the places Timothy goes in his time machine.
Marcelo Simonetti blew me away with his incredible illustrations and graphics in this book. Each picture was so incredibly detailed and lifelike. Marcelo is an incredible artist. Children will love these pictures as it will draw them more into the story.
One of my favorite parts of the book was when he goes back in time when his parents were kids at school and plays pranks on them. Thinking like a young kid I would think that would be funny.
There was one formatting issue that I had an issue with. I read this book on my Kindle as I usually do. The graphics were black, white and grey. The lettering was in some instances black and white. Some pages the wording was in white with the background being light grey. Those few pages were a little difficult to read. I am sure the print form does not have this issue.
Interesting story
Ford pens a unique story in Timothy Mean and the Time Machine. I haven’t read anything from this author before, and I really enjoyed this story. The graphics were incredible and told a story parallel to the text written. The characters were vibrant. This book would be perfect to read to a child or have the child read it back. Timothy builds a time machine out of a cardboard box and goes on a wonderful, almost magical journey in time, encountering everything from Vikings to dinosaurs. A great story to read. I was definitely entertained by this story. Filled with action and imagination. I look forward to reading more by this author. This book is a definite recommendation by Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews.
I can’t wait for my grandson to read this. His imagination will soar. Of course, I had to read it first. This book is absolutely delightful. The illustrations are so well done, and I laughed at a couple of things Timothy Mean did (no spoilers here). I can see my grandson using an empty box to make his own time machine after this. Although I feel it’s a great book for my grandson, girls would love it too. Be sure to have a discussion with your child about where Timothy went after each days time travel.