Splash!

""I have a pond in my backyard. I have one turtle, two catfish, three frogs and four goldfish,"" announces the young narrator of this cheerful counting tale. She also has a dog and cat which, though far less enamored of swimming than the other creatures, also end up in the pond. The setting remains constant as Jonas's (Where Can It Be?; When You Were a Baby) art and text follow the numerous ins and outs of the pondside animals (""My dog and cat climb out. A dragonfly falls in. One frog hops out""). After noting each change, the child repeats the question, ""How many are in my pond?"" The real freshness here lies in Jonas's luminous illustrations, rendered in acrylic paints on clear acetate, which show playful action and humorous shifts in perspective as tiny and larger animals-and eventually the girl herself-slip into the water-each making a ""SPLASH"" of proportionate size. Ages 3-up. (May)