SPLASH! A Penguin Counting Book

A collection of full-color photographs of Antarctic Adelie penguins masquerades as a counting book, covering numbers one through ten. Penguin parents are off to sea, in search of krill to feed the babies. This single event is outlined with a minimum of text, and each spread offers a basic counting opportunity. Viewers can count three fuzzy babies in their just-hatched fluffy gray down, four penguin footprints spread across the sand, five adult penguins marching over ice. Whether trudging, swimming, sliding, or flapping, these flightless, toddling, torpedo-shaped creatures are fun to watch, waddling awkwardly on short legs, flippers bent behind. Bundles of nestled gray chicks are contrasted with the bold blacks and whites of their adult counterparts in the spread for ten. ""How many penguins do you see?"" is a final challenge, and although the picture is cropped and an official answer not provided, readers will want to take a crack at counting the entire rookery. The background of sea, snow, and shadows offers the perfect theater for these Charlie Chaplins of the Antarctic, all dressed up for a premiere on ice.