Soup for One

"Tee hee hee! Some soup for me!" cries a delighted insect as he flies through an open window into a bowl of soup on a kitchen table. Not prepared to share, the fly becomes increasingly vexed as one bug after another joins him ("No more! No more!/ It won't hold four!"), until the count reaches double digits: "Not again! Now there are 10!" Long's (Chamelia) singsong couplets with their counting-themed rhymes invite chiming in as the insect tally climbs. The mixed-media illustrations incorporate photographic elements (namely the bowl, a spoon, and some soup crackers), lending a three-dimensional quality to the swimming pool%E2%80%93like soup bowl. The cartoony bug characters add an abundance of visual humor: all but the first, cranky interloper are having a dandy time in the soup%E2%80%94diving below the surface, resting on a cracker, and drinking from a straw%E2%80%94and a spider is seen loitering in the background. The soup's rightful (and hungry) owner spoils the fun, but leaves a soup%C3%A7on for the spider. Straightforward but entertaining fare. Ages 3%E2%80%936. (Apr.)