From One to One Hundred

This inventive counting book is jam-packed with information, as each page cleverly incorporates a numeral into a distinctive, energetic scene. (A shower spurts from pipes shaped like the number four; chicks are penned in by hay bales arranged in a figure six.) A simple, primarily pictorial legend beneath each illustration identifies the numeral and designates objects of the same number that can be counted in the picture. For example, a tree in the ``5'' legend indicates that five trees appear in the art. Sloat's ( From Letter to Letter ) ingenious, whimsical drawings depict an amazing variety of locales, from barnyard to desert to museum (old dinosaur bones form ``30'') to school locker room, and feature appropriate situations and subject matter for each. Readers will pore over the fine details, enjoying the sly humor and relishing the challenge of counting 70 bumblebees or 90 gold nuggets. All ages. (Sept.)