Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3^-6. A playful rhyming text and bold, colorful pictures give this counting book a lot of kid appeal. The numbers 1 to 10 are each displayed in a double-page spread featuring a rhyming verse and an animal-themed illustration loaded with detail. The number three, for example, shows a trio of birds with musical instruments "sitting in a tree / all drinking tea / and eating macaroni / while playing a symphony." There are lots of threes for counting practice: three birds, three tea cups, three bowls of macaroni, three musical notes floating through the air, and three caterpillars, perched on a bright red birdhouse, enjoying the concert. Moreton's computer-generated illustrations are humming with activity, color, and clever details that reinforce both number identification and counting. The text is presented in large, bold type, with all the rhyming words appearing at the end of the line in colored type. This makes it easy for children to identify the rhyming words and read the verse correctly, pausing at the end of a line, even if it is not the end of the sentence. A fun and easy way to integrate math and language arts into the curriculum. --Lauren Peterson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-This action-packed counting book celebrates numbers from 1 to 10 through animal antics put forth in clever nonsense rhymes. Each number appears with an outlandish scenario built on words that rhyme with its name, thus introducing two concepts simultaneously. "I watched five arrive/And saw them dive/Off their hive/Onto the drive./They're all still alive/And I know they'll survive/And most certainly thrive." Numerals are presented prominently and integrated creatively within the oversized computer-generated illustrations along with the appropriate number of cows, mice, worms, lizards, etc. The large shaded figures of the animals are offset with varied backgrounds and enhanced with witty details. For example, 9 pigs line up in front of an ice-cream truck to buy slop pops for 99 cents on their way to a mud bath, which is open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. The intriguing rhyme schemes and the colorful, fun-filled illustrations should inspire countless rereadings.-Starr LaTronica, Four County Library System, Vestal, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Various animals star in these nonsense rhymes about the numbers one through ten: I watched five arrive / and saw them dive / off their hive / onto the drive. . . . The computer-assisted illustrations bring the wacky, complicated elements of each rhyme together and add some humorous details of their own. The rhythms are bumpy, but kids might be inspired to come up with their own animal counting rhymes. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Barrett wrestles six to twelve words that rhyme with a number between one and ten into more or less (usually less) meaningful verses, each of which is computer-illustrated with a frenzied scene of countable objects and pop-eyed animals doing silly things. The rhyming word in each line is printed in a contrasting color, and read aloud, the poems will elicit guffawsThere are just three / Sitting in a tree / All drinking tea / And eating macaroni / While playing a symphony. Though that doesnt seem to have been the intent, the very badness of the rhyming may tempt children to add their own lines, but the joke does wear thinand so does Barretts inspiration, particularly with Seven, where she lamely resorts to names and repetition: i.e., seven . . . eleven . . . heaven . . . Evan . . . Kevin . . . Devon . . . Evan . . . seven. For children just learning to count, stick with old reliables, such as Keith Bakers Big Fat Hen (1994). (Picture book. 2-4)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
