cover image Let's Count!

Let's Count!

Elisabet Ballart, Roser Capdevila I. Valls. Thomasson Grant & Howell, $6.98 (1pp) ISBN 978-1-56566-011-3

Starring a multi-specied cast, this kinetic picture book starts off counting by ones from zero to 20, then by 10s to 100. Rhyming couplets chronicle the helter-skelter activity, from ``seven dogs at the deli'' to nine balletic mice to 20 porcine partygoers. Unfortunately, Ballart's verses often scan awkwardly, and her rhymes are occasionally forced (e.g., ``shoes'' with ``confused''). A dubious visual bonus appears in the form of related objects to be enumerated beneath each full-page illustration; these range from fanciful fish skeletons lying under eight overfed felines to the odd choice of six hypodermic needles in a rabbit-populated hospital. A section called ``For more counting fun'' at book's end indicates more complex math concepts: accordingly, 30 is represented by three sets of 10 differently dressed simian construction workers--the concept seems like overkill. At times the delicate pen-and-watercolor pictures display an offbeat humor, but their general congestion makes them unsuitable for primary counting lessons. A quirky but generally unsatisfactory numbers game. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)