Odds and Evens: A Numbers Book

Counts to thirteen in terms such as one-horse town, six of one, eight ball, and baker's dozen

This cleverly conceived but unevenly executed counting book uses familiar sayings to proceed from one ("A one-horse town") to 13 ("A baker's dozen"); along the way are snippets of proverbs ("Two in the bush"), quotes from nursery rhymes ("Three blind mice") and figurative expressions ("Behind the eight ball"). Goennel ( Heidi's Zoo ) pairs each phrase with a bold and jazzy painting. Her stark figures, flat perspectives and brilliant palette pack visual appeal, but her choice of subject often fails to illuminate, or even to jibe with, the expression at hand. For example, her scene of a horse grazing outside a metropolis suggests the opposite of a "one-horse" town, while her witch cycling past 11 trees in the moonlight has no connection to the last-minute rush denoted by the idiom "the eleventh hour." Young readers may well be left at sixes and sevens. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-6. Goennel illustrates numbers from 1 to 13 in a pleasingly designed picture book. Each left-hand page carries the 13 numbers in borders along the top and bottom, while set against a boldly colored background is a phrase incorporating the relevant number in some form, such as "the five senses, six of one and half-a-dozen of the other, seventh heaven," or "behind the eight ball." On each right-hand page, a corresponding painting offers an opportunity to count objects, though not necessarily those mentioned in the text. The illustration for "the eleventh hour," for instance, shows a witch riding a bicycle with 11 trees in the background. The title, too, seems a bit detached from the subject. Literal-minded readers will find the book unsatisfying, but the more visually oriented may overlook its flaws as they respond to its strong design and the colorful artwork featuring a distinctive flat perspective. For larger collections. Carolyn Phelan