Diary of a Time Traveler

After a boy named Augustus dares suggest to his teacher that history is boring, she gives him a magic diary that sends them on a tour of the past, beginning with the first fire one million years ago and ending with Neil Armstrong’s moon walk. The boy’s upbeat narrative chronicles each step of the journey: “When you think of a genius, you think of Einstein, right? I had to see the great man for myself, so I paid a visit to the Big Apple in the 1930s.” Stevenson’s digital art brings an off-kilter collaged look to the halls of Versailles, the invention of the printing press, and more; text bubbles dot the images, identifying important individuals and other trivia. While Augustus’s transformation from disinterested to actively engrossed is essentially instantaneous, the multitude of historical tidbits should keep readers occupied. Ages 7–10. (Oct.)