THE CLOCK PROBLEM

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.