Bedtime Math 2: This Time It's Personal

Overdeck follows Bedtime Math with another winning fusion of math and mirth, offering dozens of problems inspired by everything from the rate at which fingernails grow to the amount of water used in taking showers and baths. Once again, questions are available for readers at three levels, introducing basic mathematical operations, comparative size and length, counting by 10s, and other topics. On a spread entitled %E2%80%9CThere's No Wrong Time for Pajamas," Overdeck asks youngest participants (%E2%80%9CWee ones") to predict a pattern using pajama sets, while giving %E2%80%9CBig kids" a two-step addition problem (%E2%80%9CIf you sleep in your PJs from 8:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m., then wear them to school for another 6 hours, how many hours do you get to wear them?"). Paillot's cartoons bring an abundance of energy and comedy to the pages, whether he's drawing a toilet-paper mummy or a child soaking in a bathtub full of cheese puffs. It's a smart way to get kids thinking about the ways in which math is part of their daily lives. Ages 3%E2%80%937. Author's agent: Cathy Hemming, Cathy D. Hemming Literary Agency. (Mar.)