cover image Counting Rhymes

Counting Rhymes

Shona McKellar. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley), $12.95 (29pp) ISBN 978-1-56458-309-3

Smartly photographed children seem to leap off the pages of this handsomely designed, oversize volume, a voyage into the realm of verse for the very young. The young models, festively costumed, act out nursery rhymes which center on counting or numbers. The entries run the gamut from tried-and-true verse (``One, Two, Buckle My Shoe''; ``This Old Man''; ``There Were Five in the Bed'') to newer, less familiar poems and ditties (not all of which rhyme, despite the book's title). Though some of the more recent pieces fall flat when read aloud, the unflaggingly high caliber and plenitude of the photographs more than compensate. Overall, the book provides ample entertainment for preschoolers, who will be kept busy with fingerplay, singing and, of course, counting. Ages 3-up. (Dec.)