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Time Capsule
The joy a child finds in making their own time capsule, filled with everyday objects, comes alive in this inviting picture book from the MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and award-winning author of Radioactive.
A set of dice. A grandmother’s ring. The key to an old house. A child gathers keepsakes from everyday life, seals them in a jar, and buries them underground. A gift from the present day…to people of the future…that tells a story about the past. A time capsule.
The first book for children by renowned artist and writer Lauren Redniss will get readers thinking about the times they are living through and how their world will be remembered in ages to come. It will also spark creativity, inviting young people to envision the future and to make their own time capsules.
Extra pages in the back include tips on making your own time capsule and facts about different kinds of time capsules in history.
A set of dice. A grandmother’s ring. The key to an old house. A child gathers keepsakes from everyday life, seals them in a jar, and buries them underground. A gift from the present day…to people of the future…that tells a story about the past. A time capsule.
The first book for children by renowned artist and writer Lauren Redniss will get readers thinking about the times they are living through and how their world will be remembered in ages to come. It will also spark creativity, inviting young people to envision the future and to make their own time capsules.
Extra pages in the back include tips on making your own time capsule and facts about different kinds of time capsules in history.
48 pages, Hardcover
Published April 12, 2022
About the author
Lauren Redniss
12 books203 followersLauren Redniss is the author of Century Girl: 100 years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies and Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout, a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award for non fiction. Her writing and drawing has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, which nominated her work for the Pulitzer Prize. She was a fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars & Writers at the New York Public Library in 2008-2009, became a New York Institute for the Humanities fellow in 2010, and is currently Artist-in-Residence at the American Museum of Natural History. She teaches at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 18, 2022
With its striking mixed-media illustrations and sparse text, this picture book--a 3.5 for me--features realia from previous years that seemed quite familiar to me, born as I was in the 1950s. In addition to the images in the book's interior, readers will find interesting objects on the title page, the copyright page, and the dedication page: a floppy disk, a telephone with a rotary dial and cords, a manual typewriter, and a tape cassette. All of these were products of their times, and they've gone out of fashion in today's world along with the cancelled checks banks used to send to their customers so they could keep accounting records straight. The rest of the book focuses on the choices a young girl makes for inclusion in her own time capsule, starting with the date and including an heirloom ring, a key, a marble, even a tooth and some dreams and nightmares. After sealing the jar and its contents and burying them, she wonders what the reaction will be when someone finds it in a century or more. Readers will notice that a greenish fly flits through several of the scenes, perhaps denoting decay and/or the passage of time. Parents, caregivers or teachers might want to share this book while planning an activity centered around time capsules while referring to the back matter, which provides additional information about time capsules, what has been placed in some capsules, suggestions for how to make your own time capsule, and reflective questions about history and what matters. The final pages are sure to leave readers thinking about what objects or moments that they would want to capture and hold onto for future generations. Christopher Myers' essay at the back of the book is a reminder of the importance of the stories passed down from one individual to the next and what the choices we make say about us and what matters to us. So much to think about from a deceptively-simple picture book!
July 7, 2022
interesting information in the back matter and pretty detailed about how to make a time capsule, but there's something truly dystopian about a time capsule from 2020 being opened in 100 years given what's happening on this planet
November 4, 2021
I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Books through the Fall Day of Dialogue.
Readers see a child set up a time capsule. She adds items that have important meaning to her and buries the jar with a note to open it in 100 years. This is followed by informative text about the history of time capsules.
Readers see a child set up a time capsule. She adds items that have important meaning to her and buries the jar with a note to open it in 100 years. This is followed by informative text about the history of time capsules.
May 10, 2022
MacArthur genius grant recipient Lauren Redniss creates an interesting new picture book focused on creating a time capsule. The book shows the creation of a time capsule with artifacts and wishes. The end notes provide additional information about the process and the use of time capsules throughout history. She uses the book as a way to help young readers think about history and the future.
August 31, 2022
This would be an AMAZING story to read for a storytime with a craft afterwards. Each kid could make a time capsule or start one at least. I almost loved all the information in the back even more than the story. This one could be read to kids in a pre-K storytime but the info in the back will please curious minds up to age 10.
November 27, 2022
A very thought provoking book; a reflective child or classroom would have their curiosity piqued by the questions of past, present, and future raised in the book and of the personally important and the culturally significant.
The back matter provides helpful background, much of it new to me, on time capsules and other artifact collections intended to be saved for the future.
The back matter provides helpful background, much of it new to me, on time capsules and other artifact collections intended to be saved for the future.
February 1, 2023
This book was really two books—the first one was a mediocre story with a paper-thin plot and the second was a fascinating nonfiction dive into the history of time capsules. I wish Redniss had just run with the nonfiction stuff and thrown out the fiction.
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January 9, 2024I did not like this book. I felt that there should have been more of an introduction to the story. I may use this if I was teaching a history lesson on time capsules, or an art project on them but I wouldn't buy it for my classroom.
May 6, 2022
Beautiful little children's book with great art and some really cool factoids in the back.
May 20, 2022
The possibilities for using this book with readers is limitless. This could expand into writing, social science, science, and many other disciplines. A new favorite for sure.
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July 13, 2022read it for the interesting backmatter
August 13, 2022
I love the illustrations! This would be a great book for TALK
August 28, 2022
Books that are for children but actually better for adults. Great book to talk about the importance of passing down stories and reflect how time changes.
September 26, 2022
This included examples of how to make time capsules.
November 22, 2022
Interesting back mater talking about the history of time capsules and how to make one yourself
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March 30, 2023Great book for the classroom about the importance of history and science.
July 30, 2023
Delightful
September 20, 2022
I really enjoyed the simplicity in both the writing and illustrations. It wasn’t a particularly interesting time capsule, but time capsules are sometimes a personal thing. And Redniss’ illustrations of even the most mundane items are exquisite and interesting. I thought the addition of both a nightmare and dream were interesting, and I had fun wondering how they would be portrayed in a physical way that would fit in a jar. Included in the back is a fun activity for making your own time capsule.
May 22, 2022
Great back matter to add onto the sparse text around a time capsule. Use as a read aloud and guide to making a time capsule!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews