ONE GAPING WIDE-MOUTHED HOPPING FROG

The talented illustrator who debuted with Albert's Alphabet (ALA Notable, 1991) sports with numbers in a cumulative look at a community where the eponymous frog delivers mail to ``3 monkeys dancing the clog, 4 ostriches who like to jog,'' and so on. The variety of animals provides opportunities for some delightfully inventive costumes and activities: there are five busy pups at Mrs. Golden's Day Care; the carpentry of eight beaver ``joiners'' recalls the industry of Albert (who drives the school bus here); while ten peacocks hover above the cozy community—by plane, balloon, and parachute. As in L. L. Brooke's Johnny Crow, the story is minimal but skillfully orchestrated, while there's lots to search out, identify, and count, especially in a final aerial scene in which all the animals appear. Again, Tryon's good- humored caricatures have a wit and charm that should endear them to generations of readers. (Picture book. 3-7)