Who Counts? 100 Sheep, 10 Coins, and 2 Sons

Levine and Sasso present contemporary retellings of the three biblical parables with numerical themes: the good shepherd, lost coin, and prodigal son. In the first, a Caucasian farmhand in a plaid shirt and cowboy hat temporarily loses one of his 100 sheep; in the similar second parable, an African-American woman scours her midcentury modern home for a lost silver drachma, celebrating its discovery with a party for the women in town. In the longer final story, Meganck pictures the father and sons as a Latino family running a vast farm. All three stories are true to their biblical roots, but Meganck’s handsome paintings of diverse characters and present-day settings may help readers find greater connections to their messages about value, faithfulness, and appreciation—and it doesn’t hurt that each parable ends with a party. Ages 3–8. (May)