Often that language, as when Johannes brags, is funny, and for kids it’s like the humor means they’re allowed to enjoy the writing. It is a tendency of the human species to see themselves in everything, to assume all living things, animals in particular, are simply corollaries to humans, but in this book, that is not the case.

The meeting under the clock reminded me of Time After Time where the two main characters from different timelines meet during Manhattanhenge.

In this way, Lotz has her characters consider everything from technology to environmentalism to war, in a consistently entertaining and interesting way. Other stories have been written about people communicating over time, but this is the first use I am aware of that makes use of parallel universes as an impediment to true love. Another bit of fun is the repeated presence of David Bowie references, including an album you have never heard of. Two thirds through I was so desperate for some elegantly crafted writing I took a breather with some Jane Austen before going back in.

This uplifting and challenging book will liberate believers from the despair and frustration of feeling that God asks us to do the impossible. That is the question posed in this UNEXPECTED love story, written by British FANTASY Award recipient Sarah Lotz. Essentially, he’s taken ten paintings of classical landscapes, mostly from the 1800s (with a single 1600s van Rusdael for spice) and added Johannes to each one. For this update to the 2014 original edition, British historian and journalist Nicholas Foulkes has selected the 100 breakthrough timepieces developed since the advent of the twentieth century, weighing the virtues of rarity, costliness, innovative functions, historical importance, grand provenance and pleasing design. They decide to meet at the Euston Station, under the clock-Bee in a red coat-Nick in a tweed jacket.With Shawn Harris’ grand illustrations, straight from the Hudson River School, Johannes is a hero for all time. Young readers will be drawn to the original thinking, wisdom, and sly humor of the animals, as they comment on the strange behaviors of people without seeming human themselves.