Counting Creatures

Donaldson and King-Chai’s animal-themed counting book marches readers through a menagerie of families, including bats, leopards, and potbelly pigs. Featuring flaps for lifting, spreads present animals with their countable young, described in rhythmic language (“This arctic hare has.../ 7 leverets./ Running and jumping./ Little legs thumping”) and ending with the repeated refrain, “Who has more babies than that?” The groups represent numbers one to 10, then jump up by fives all the way to 30, where the final spread invites readers to count a spider parent’s spiderlings, which are scattered throughout the book. King-Chai’s energetic illustrations, shot through with acid yellow, electric blue, and shocking pink, layer textures to depict brush-stroked owl wings, splotchy tadpoles, ink-spot flowers, and spattered horizon lines. Ages 3–5. [em](Nov.) [/em]