At the Same Moment, Around the World

In this French import, Perrin circles the globe to glimpse simultaneous events in twenty-four time zones. From construction in Dubai to cooking in Samoa, a Shanghai festival to a Russian snowstorm, the brief text and handsome art celebrate Earth's rich variety. Using soft pencil lines for texture as well as definition and adding glowing saturated colors digitally, Perrin creates a lush, inviting world.

The title says it all: Perrin circles the globe to glimpse events in twenty-four time zones. At six a.m. in Senegal, Keita counts his fisherman father's catch, while "at the same moment" Benedict breakfasts in Paris at seven; a school bus is stopping in Bulgaria at eight; and so on. From construction in Dubai to cooking in Samoa, a Shanghai festival to a Russian snowstorm, a good-night kiss in San Francisco to a birth in Peru, the brief text and handsome art celebrate Earth's rich variety. The six-by-thirteen-inch book opens to near-square spreads divided vertically for two tall scenes, integrated in color and composition if not setting. Using soft pencil lines for texture as well as definition and adding glowing saturated colors digitally, Perrin creates a lush, inviting world peopled with more dark faces than light ones and burgeoning with creatures blessed with alert, Chagall-style eyes. Cover art sets the theme with figures circling a globe, day to night and snow to tropics; a foldout places the characters on a world map; a note discusses time zones and their history, a subject to which this French import would make a fine introduction. joanna rudge long