The Time It Took Tom

Story

One long, boring afternoon Tom finds a tin of red paint and decides to paint the living room. Everything in the living room. Even the cat! It’s not quite what his mother had in mind.

Why we chose it

The Time it Took Tom is an ingenious, colourful and amusing exploration of time for young children, and a wry glimpse of a mother-child relationship tested by the discovery of a full can of paint. It showcases the witty storytelling of writer Stephen Tucker and the bold and inventive style of award-winning illustrator Nick Sharratt.

Where it came from

Stephen Tucker is a school teacher who lives in Brighton, and drew on his love of teaching to conceive this funny yet educational tale.

Edinburgh-based Nick Sharratt, has loved drawing for as long as he can remember and started illustrating educational books and comics as soon as he left art school, inspired by graphic art of the 1960s.

Sharratt has illustrated over 250 books including Jacqueline Wilson’s best-selling novels from The Story of Tracy Beaker to Hetty Feather. He has also illustrated over 40 of his own stories including inventive interactive books like Ketchup on Your Cornflakes, with split pages that allow young readers to create strange meals, Don’t Put Your Finger in the Jelly, Nelly with holes in the pages for fingers to explore, and Shark in the Park with holes to peep through to the next page. Is that really a shark Timothy can see through his telescope?

Where it went next

Enjoyed by children and adults, The Time it Took Tom has proved to be a popular teaching resource for helping children understand the relationship between units of time.

In 2007 it was reprinted under the adapted title Tom and the Tinful of Trouble.

Associated stories

Stephen Tucker and Nick Sharratt have collaborated on several picture books including the popular Lift-the-Flap Fairy Tale series. These witty retellings of fairy tales in modern-day rhyme include Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.