Max and his two brothers hop into a car and go looking for problems they can solve. They cruise down highway number 4 on their way to Shapeville, but they see an abandoned number along the way. Is it a 6? Is it a 9? And what's it doing on the side of the road? Once the trio reach Shapeville, there's another problem: a flood washed away all of the squares. Max and his brothers show the town that putting together two triangles will bring their shapes back together, and then they follow the residents on a trip to Count Town, where they put the missing number back in its place in the countdown to a rocket's blastoff.

Kate Banks is the author of many acclaimed books for children, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner And If the Moon Could Talk. She lives in the South of France. katebanksbooks.com

Boris Kulikov is the critically acclaimed illustrator of many children's books, including most recently Papa's Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. boriskulikov.com