View source for George's Invisible Watch by David McKee and Brett McKee

{{infobox2
|title=George's Invisible Watch
|author=David McKee and Brett McKee
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1842708644
|pages=32
|publisher=Andersen
|date=August 2012
|aznuk=1842708643
|aznus=1842708643
|cover=1842708643
|website=
|video=
|summary=A fun story with entertaining illustrations, great for older toddlers or young school children.
}}
George has an invisible watch.  At first no one believes that he has an invisible watch, but slowly they find that his watch is always right until eventually they all begin to rely on him and his watch to tell the time!  But what happens when one day nobody rings the bell at playtime so the children don't begin their lessons again?  Has George's watch broken down?

My five year old and I really enjoyed reading this story.  She even had a go herself at reading through it, and managed most of it without getting too stuck as the language is very accessible.  She could very easily identify with the idea of George's watch being perhaps imaginary and then, actually, being somehow magically real and she enjoyed the progress of the story with everyone needing George to tell them the time and then the reveal at the end as we find out that the extra long playtime wasn't because George forgot his watch (as he tells the headmaster) and that actually thanks to him the children have not only had the long playtime but they've also been let out early from school!

The illustrations are fun, with lots going on in each one.  There are things to read within the illustrations too which add to the story and my daughter enjoyed going through them all to see what everyone was saying.  The only thing we weren't sure about was the ambulance which makes an 'Oi-Ya, Oi-Ya' noise, which isn't the noise we'd do for an ambulance but never mind, we'll let that one pass!  I liked some of the background goings on in the pictures, like the mum who is wiping off her daughter's face with what must be a spat upon tissue!  I also really liked the headmaster's office, complete with golf club and balls and a glass on the floor to knock them into!

There's one image of the school staff room, complete with the teachers talking including one who says 'I blame the government' which led to an interesting discussion about what a government is...not what you expect when you sit down to read a picture book together!  Still, it's one of those books where you could whizz through it in a couple of minutes, or you could find yourselves going through all the pictures together and talking about what's going on.

Younger children may need the ending explained to them, so they understand just what George has been up to, but it made us laugh straight away.  A good, fun story!

You might also enjoy [[The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr Benn by David McKee]]

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[[Category:David McKee]]
[[Category:Brett McKee]]