DAISY 1, 2, 3

Children who, like the Count on Sesame Street, “looooove to count” will be delighted with this companion to Matthew ABC (2002). The 20 Dalmatians in Mrs. Tuttle’s obedience school are all named “Daisy,” but she has no trouble telling them apart. As she explains to a befuddled assistant, “Daisy 1 has one peculiar spot, Daisy 2 wears two name tags, Daisy 3 plays three instruments,” and so on, getting sillier as it goes, up to Daisy 20, who “fools twenty fleas” into infesting a hand puppet. Each Daisy radiates bright-eyed, cheery energy in Catalanotto’s cartoonish scenes, and even younger children will have no trouble picking out, and toting up, each dog’s distinguishing feature or activity. The Daisys gather for a group portrait at the end, and Mrs. Tuttle makes a lame but giggle-inducing joke about how they all have their “spots.” A sure cure for numeral narcosis. (Picture book. 4-6)