The clock problem How to tell time

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.)

Will our hero chicken out of learning to tell time? A big analog clock hangs in the barn, but, unable to decipher it, Chicken showed up late to a big meeting with Farmer Ed. Now, the farmer has dispatched Boxer Brutus to "teach [Chicken] a lesson once and for all." A terrified Chicken is certain that this doesn't bode well. And Boxer Brutus is scheduled to come at 10 a.m.--less than an hour away, as the savvier barnyard animals realize. Kindhearted Sheep teaches Chicken to read a clock, while Goat supplies the sass, many of the extremely corny jokes, and regular but unhelpful suggestions. As Sheep draws a clock and then uses the barn clock to teach Chicken, we see the minute hand advance, starting at 9:10 and creeping up little by little to 9:50. Finally, a frantic Chicken eyes the clock and, unprompted, exclaims, "It's 9:58!" Chicken can tell time! Brutus arrives but is hardly the Golden Gloves champion envisioned--the word boxer refers to the dog breed. The ending is a bit of a whimper as Brutus is now no longer needed and simply leaves. But the art is amusing: Sheep and Goat have round bulging eyes and toothy grins. Chicken's golf ball--shaped eyes roll dramatically, and our protagonist is often stretched or curled into anguished shapes. The limited examples on the barn clock are supplemented in the backmatter. Goofy humor but real, relatable anxiety, soothed by a calm, reasonably effective teacher. (examples of digital and analog clocks, with matching challenge) (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.