Spots: Counting Creatures from Sky to Sea - Hardcover

Lesser, Carolyn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152006664 ISBN 13: 9780152006662

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1999

Synopsis

Spotted animals from around the world, including a leopard ray, ringed seals, reticulated giraffes, and tundra butterflies, introduce the numbers from one to ten, and a special section describes each creature and the ten biomes in which they inhabit. 10,000 first printing.

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Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-In this attractive book, children are invited to count a variety of creatures with spots. Each two-page spread features an oil-and-gouache painting of an animal (or group of the same animals) with a few words describing it on the verso and the creature's name and a number from 1 to 10 on the recto, e.g., "Slinking, prowling, hunting spots...two sleek jaguars." While the pictures and text complement one another beautifully, the art is the real scene-stealer here. Spectacular double-page paintings present the animal(s) in dramatic detail, demanding repeated viewings. Although the somewhat sophisticated vocabulary may make this title less accessible to newly independent readers, the lyrical text and repetitive word patterns make it a good read-aloud choice. The endpage discusses the creatures' habitats. A nicely designed, slightly different entry for concept sections that's sure to have tremendous appeal, especially with nature enthusiasts.
Arwen Marshall, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this visual feast from Lesser and Regan (Dig Hole, Soft Mole, 1996), so striking are the oil and gouache wildlife portraits that, despite the counting book framework, numbers are nearly an afterthought. Every spread has a you-are-there quality, as if readers are peering into a rock-strewn stream to spy six fire salamanders or scuba diving alongside one leopard ray in the murky blue. The book opens with an invitation``Spotted creatures/wait for you. Snoop and find them/count them, too''as Lesser toys with language, using active verbs to describe the kinds of spots found on each animal: ``Staring, rippling, jetting spots'' dapple five reef squid; ``loping, gazing, nibbling spots'' grace seven reticulated giraffes. Although spots are the unifying theme, the creatures have been carefully selected not only for their markings but for their habitats or biomes, identified and outlined in a final glossary. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152006664
• ISBN 13: 9780152006662
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Regan Laura
• Number of pages: 32