The Clock Problem. How to Tell Time (Hilariously Simple Math)

Barnyard animals teach a chicken how to read analog clocks in this instructional picture book. After Chicken shows up late to meet with Farmer Ed, a letter arrives from “Brutus the Boxer,” promising to teach the fowl a lesson. Fear of reprisal proves a powerful, if questionably appropriate, motivator for Chicken, and subsequent barnyard dialogue alternates between time-telling lessons and ideas about how the bird might avoid unpleasantness. Speech bubbles provide a challenging vehicle for lengthy explanations about the positioning of clock hands, but Wise otherwise keeps the countdown moving with wordplay-filled banter. Against pale-colored backdrops, Lynch’s panels amplify the story’s over-the-top style via the googly eyed characters’ antics. Includes more about clock types and an activity. Publishing simultaneously: The Pigpen Problem. How to Calculate Area and Perimeter. Ages 7–12. (Aug.)