Chirpy lives in a chicken coop with her friends. They have always been content to peck and play within the coop, but Chirpy spends hours gazing through the chicken wire, wondering about the world outside it.

She loves to watch the two boys emerge from their home close by and watch them play. When they talk about school she wonders what it is as they seem so excited about going there.

Suddenly one morning as the boy’s mum comes to feed Chirpy and her fellow chickens, Chirpy sees her chance. The gate to their coop has been left open! While her friends run to the food being sprinkled on the ground, Chirpy runs straight out of the gate. When she sees the school bus has arrived for the boys, she decides to check out this mysterious place called school and jumps aboard.

School is a busy place with lots of feet she must avoid in case of being stepped on. Somewhere higher will be much safer she thinks, and from here her dream comes true. From high in a classroom, Chirpy begins to learn all about Maths, Science and Physics, explaining things around Chirpy’s world that she’s always wanted to know more about.

Chirpy learns about Gravity, Counting and Forces that make things work and happen around her. She’s so excited to go back to the coop and tell all her friends.

But after she jumps off the school bus and runs to the coop, there is something terribly wrong. Can Chirpy’s new knowledge save the day?

A little bigger than a normal sized child’s paperback, and with larger print inside too, The Great Mathemachicken is a great bridge from early readers into chapter books.

Illustrated throughout in lemon, grey and black, readers follow Chirpy’s adventure to learn more about the world. What she learns is clearly shown on the page as school children discover Science and Maths within their class projects. These in turn show young readers Gravity, Forces and Physics and how they happen every day around us.

Using these new found skills back at her chicken coop turns the story into an exciting capture and rescue mission.

This is the first in this fun series all about Science, Maths, and Physics and how they are all around us in our everyday lives.

Author – Nancy Krulik

Illustrator – Charlie Adler

Age – 6+

(2024, Penguin Books, Chicken, Animal, Chicken Coop, Adventure, Inquisitive, Learning, Science, Maths, Physics, STEM, Series, School, Humour, Funny, Escape, Building small machines, Inquiry, Danger, Cooperation)