The clock that stopped on New Year’s Eve🎆

The stairs in the clock tower are long and dark, and at the top an old clockmaker has fallen asleep among the cogs. Someone has taken a small cog, and without it the clock won’t work. Together with an owl who can see in the dark, your child follows a trail of glitter and confetti through the still town.

While the clock is stopped, time stands still too. Fireworks hang in the air, confetti floats and a cat on a rooftop is frozen mid-leap. The book reveals who took the cog and why.

This idea is for children who want to stay up until midnight but fall asleep on the sofa, and for children who find the loud bangs a little scary. In the book, your child helps the new year begin and gets to be part of a beautiful fireworks display. Read it on New Year’s Eve, or give it in the days after Christmas.

A four-year-old might enjoy the owl, the glitter and the fireworks. A nine-year-old can puzzle over the missing cog and think about what they’d like to take into the new year.

Tell us how you celebrate: at home or with friends, what you eat and whether you watch fireworks from a window or a favourite spot outside. Include brothers, sisters, cousins and the dog who hides under the table when the bangs start. If your child has a wish for the new year, perhaps learning to swim or welcoming a baby sister, it can find a place in the story too.

Find more ideas in our New Year stories.