Timeless by Kelly Canby and published by Fremantle Press, the 2024 CBCA Picture Book of the Year, cleverly explores the concept of time through the eyes of a curious, young child, Emit (time spelt backwards). He reflects on the concept of time, how it is elusive, how it appears that there is never enough and how it is consumed. He very much feels the effects of the constant busyness and chaos that reigns in his time poor family.
The vibrant cover of this book, full of energy, instantly struck me with its title written in two different colours highlighting a double meaning and a lack of time. From the moment I opened this book with its engaging, entertaining, bright and lively endpapers, I knew I was in for a treat. The endpapers contain signs for shops with ‘pun’ names and relate to Emit’s solution to find more time.
The story begins with an intriguing first sentence, “it began in no time at all” and the reader is introduced, through the illustrations, to a family, where the concern on everyone’s faces is palpable, except for a young hopeful boy in the corner holding a ball. So, the story begins and continues with Emit coming to his family with different invitations to engage, play and make memories with them, yet they are caught up in the busyness of life and because of this they do not spend time with him that he craves.
Desperate to create some pockets of time, he ponders a comment his father makes about wishing there were more hours in the day. He reflects on time related idioms he has heard and uses these as inspiration to try to source time, such as ‘time flies’ so he attempts to catch time in his net and ‘time is precious’ which sees Emit visits places where precious pieces and items are located to search for time amongst these precious things. When Emit tries to buy time, he is gifted some wise advice and this is what helps him in his quest for time with his family. Emit’s solution, like the rest of the story is creative, witty and thought provoking.
Kelly Canby’s illustrations are brimming with colour, full of energy, movement and perfectly capture the chaos of busyness with excess, clutter, big bold brush strokes and an absence of neat, contained lines. On some pages the characters appear to be fleeing off the page! The white space often used around Emit magnify his feelings of being insignificant and alone as there are so many other things that consume his family and their time.
This book will serve as a mirror to many readers as they see their own family and lives reflected in this story. It will also be a gateway to many conversations about exploring the concept of time on a personal level and what priorities exist in the readers lives to use their time. You could also compare time between generations and consider any similarities and differences that exist with how people today choose to spend their time compared to people twenty, fifty and a hundred years ago.