Garland cleverly turns a foraging expedition by ten hungry mice into a math and counting lesson for young readers. Under the cherry tree, each rodent picks up a cherry, but when they cross the meadow, some crows steal four of them. “How many cherries do the mice have now?” The ten continue making the rounds of their stomping grounds, finding new food and encountering new hazards and predators. Each spread challenges readers to count, do mental math or search the illustration for a specific item. Garland’s illustrations are an amazing array of textures and colors. The mice seem made of gray and pink terrycloth, the leaves of green plaid fabric and the tree trunks of brown carpet. All these visual stimuli will lead youngsters to avidly search the pictures for the mice and their items of food. A boon for educators teaching word problems, this is sure to be a hit with every child who likes to seek and find. (Picture book. 3-8)
