Each Orange Had 8 Slices

Despite its humdrum title, this author-illustrator team's ( How Many Snails? ) latest effort is an unusually stimulating counting book that holds appeal for a wide spectrum of ages. Each spread discloses three facts, followed by three questions, such as: ``On my way to the playground I saw 3 red flowers. Each red flower had 6 pretty petals. Each petal had 2 tiny black bugs.'' Readers are then asked to total how many flowers, how many petals and how many black bugs there are. The very young can count aloud as they point to each object, whereas older children can use multiplication to complete the calculations, which vary in difficulty. Displaying an exceptionally brilliant palette of colors, Crews's typically bold, uncluttered pictures make counting easy for the smallest fingers. Unlike most books of the genre, this will not be quickly outgrown. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)