Review Detail

Time Capsule

Kids Fiction 504

Perfect Read for Time Capsule Activity

July 11, 2022

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

3.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

A child, whose medium brown hands are shown in the illustrations, decides to make a time capsule. In a glass jar, she puts the date from the newspaper, and a variety of objects that are important to her, like a tooth, a set of dice, an acorn, a plastic toy sheep, and other items. Labeling it "Open in 100 years", she buries it and wonders what the world will be like when someone finds her time capsule.

While the narrative of the story would make for a good read aloud to get children interested in curating a collection of their own present to save for the future, my favorite part of the book was the author's note at the end that explained more about the history of time capsules and which cites some famous ones, including the Crypt of Civilization in Atlanta, and the interment of a brand-new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere in a concrete bunker in Tulsa, Oklahoma! There is also a list of ideas for things to include in your own time capsule, as well as a selected bibliography.

Good Points

The mixed media illustrations have a colored pencil style dreaminess about them, with a teal background palette with pops of warm colors. This gives a timeless feel to the book, but echoes 1960s illustrations a bit. There are items such as a Rolodex and rotary phone that might need to be explained to young readers!

I haven't seen any other books about time capsules for young readers, but this would make a great choice for classroom reads before doing a similar activity. It would have been nice to have more information about how to more adequately preserve a time capsule, especially since the notes about existing ones that have been dug up after just 100 years show us that even carefully preserved capsules can end up being a moldy stew of paper. I'm not sure the girl's jar would survive even five years.