Homeschooled! Smart George by Jules Feiffer

George is a feisty pup who'd rather do anything than learn his math. Mom is determined that her pup will learn his number facts, period.

George's mother gives it a try.

"ONE PLUS ONE EQUALS WHAT, GEORGE?"

But George knows exactly how to avoid that question....

"FIRST YOU HAVE TO FEED ME."

Now Mom comes up with another question--about the sum of two plus two!

George counters with another guilt trip. He needs to be walked! Mother complies, holding on to his leash, and poses another problem--three plus three.

George feigns fatigue and announces that it's time for his nap! No mother can turn down that plea!

But there's no escape for little George. His nap is a mathematical nightmare, with a row of trees which force him to count their trunks: one plus one, two plus two, two plus three.... George suggests that they call it a day. But the trees seeming go on endlessly and the count just keeps increasing.

A cat appears, and George makes the excuse that a cat is to be chased whenever one appears, but the cat is in cahoots with the trees, making George count the trees they pass all the way up to eight!.

"MOM! WILL YOU COME WITH MY LEASH AND PULL ME OUT OF THIS DREAM!"

But a bunch of substitute teachers appear. A big round sow says there's no way out until he counts to ten. Backing her up is a big, brown cow.

"WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE A COW IF I DON'T BELIEVE A PIG?"

But even George's vet turns up in the woods. George doesn't want a shot. He wants his mother!!!

"MOTHER! WILL YOU COME WITH MY LEASH AND PULL ME OUT OF THIS DREAM?"

But when Mom appears, George realizes that he HAS learned to add up trees--in his sleep--all the way to ten. (Maybe there IS something to this sleep learning after all! He passes the counting test with flying colors on his walk home, in noted author-illustrator Jules Feiffer's, er, addition to his much-loved series, Smart George (Harper Collins, 2020). Kids will giggle at George's futile attempt to escape arithmetical instruction, and the smart-alecky calculating cat who "dogs" his math lesson all the way home. Feiffer's wiggly blackline drawings are as quirky and quixotic as always in this latest George story. Pair this one with Feiffer's companion book, Bark, George.