TERRIBLE TIMES TABLES

A multiracial classroom recites the multiplication tables from two through nine, making each equation into a tiny poem by adding a second line.

There’s no text here beyond each equation-couplet, but a table of contents lays out that each multiplication table has a theme: “Back to School,” “Halloween,” “Lunchtime,” etc. Markel’s scansion is often smooth as silk: “4 x 6 is 24 / Bella rode a dinosaur” (who knew that museum field trips include skeleton-riding? Or do they?); “4 x 7 is 28 / Pick up a knife. Decapitate” (worm dissection!). Other times the scansion’s impossible (“9 x 2 is 18 / Scrub them ’til they’re clean”) or, in a handful or examples, scannable only if the reader unearths an unintuitive beat (“2 x 8 is 16 / Ick. A moldy tangerine”). Some rhymes falter, too. However, the combination of squick (“4 x 1 is 4 / Sam Pukes. Sam Pukes some more”), naughtiness (“8 x 4 is 32 / Someone painted Nibbles blue”—poor classroom rat), and humor (“6 x 9 is 54 / Uh oh, Santa’s pants just tore”) will hold gleeful attention. Most of the first-person narration comes from a white child named Jonas, but two pages show children of color narrating. Liddiard’s line drawings offer sly expressions, especially through the characters’ eyes; muted oranges, browns, grays, and purples in a washlike texture keep the vibe mellow even when the humor’s tangy.

Math with mischief.