COUNTING RHYMES
edited by Shona McKellar
In the publisher's signature format—color-photo cutouts on white—25 rhymes, all but five traditional, though not all familiar. The first ten introduce numbers, in order; others concern time (Causley's ``Twenty-four Hours'' objectifies each hour: ``Seven, and the children/Are bathed and in bed;/Eight, Dad is snoozing/The paper unread''); counting up, and down (``There were five in the bed...''); or arithmetic concepts; or they simply celebrate a number (``Engine, engine, number nine...''). The photos of costumed children are cheery and bright, though occasionally there's a lapse in depicting the number concept (it's not possible to see all four wheels on a toy truck whose wheels are supposed to exemplify ``four''; only seven of the cats, kits, etc., of the wives en route to St. Ives are shown). Still, an inviting oversize book, with an appealing selection of rhymes. (Picture book. 2-7)