The ruddy-cheeked, jolly baker juggling 13 cupcakes on the cover has irresistible appeal to open the pages of this rhymed counting book. Each one-sentence rhyme counts up to a dozen with oil paintings whisking up the delectable baked goods: “The baker takes care / to make one cream éclair. . . . He measures with teaspoons / eleven macaroons.” From two chocolate German cakes to four sticky buns to seven tarts to eight warm strudels, the device is extremely clever and will have kids counting over and over. A graph on the endpapers enumerates each treat. When the baker reaches 12 cupcakes, his job is complete because he has 13 folks to greet as he opens the bakery door. Though the term “baker’s dozen” isn’t explained, preschoolers will get more than a taste of the meaning. Bursting with bouncy flavor, this blue-ribbon winner of counting tales is sure to engage participation. It’s simply scrumptious fun (and calorie-free), but one thing is missing that would have put the icing on the cake: Scratch-and-sniff tabs. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8050-7809-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2007
This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-63569-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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