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The graphic designer who created The Alphabet Parade (1991) returns with an even more ebullient counting book patterned on ``The Twelve Days of Christmas'': ``In the fifth circus ring, my sister saw with me five dogs a-barking, four aerialists zooming, three monkeys playing, two elephants, and a daredevil on a high wire''--and so on, each spread exhibiting, for each of the numerals, new acts and performers, all of whom the reader is challenged to add up, variously, at the end. Meanwhile, the boy and girl appear at the bottom of each spread, along with a changing audience; and the seat numbers (101-110; 201-210; etc.) are something else to ponder. Chwast orchestrates the growing, wildly active crowd with humor, variety, and the skill of a ringmaster, setting his stylized, brightly colored figures against a mellow blue. Ingeniously constructed and designed with panache: a delightful addition to the genre. (Picture book. 3-9)
