Ten Tiny Turtles: A Crazy Counting Book

From one playful dog to seven slimy worms to ten tiny turtles, silly rhymes and colorful, zany artwork introduce youngsters to numbers and counting.

PreSchool-K?Each page of this counting book tells about a number of things?"One playful dog squirting water at the cat, Two rabbits dancing?how about that." The text goes up to 10, with each number on a separate page and each pair of pages rhyming. The cartoon illustrations are reminiscent of Ren and Stimpy, although not quite so frenetic. Each double-page spread has artwork on the left-hand page spilling over onto part of the right, which holds the text; because of this, some details are lost in the gutter. The "six slim cats standing tall and looking proud" are only five at first look, because one is lost in the gutter. There are so many better counting books that there is no need to enumerate them. Count this one out.?JoAnn Rees, Sunnyvale Public Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cherrill's debut, a simple counting book, serves mainly as a vehicle for his rough-hewn but urbane paintings. Different creatures represent each numeral from one to ten, with rhyming text ranging from whimsical ("Five fluffy sheep pretending to be clouds") to sheerly nonsensical ("Four bottles of pop for the chicken race winner"). The rhymes are uninspired (sun, fun; clouds, proud) and the book ends abruptly when the numerical list is exhausted. Yet the author ably diverts attention from the narrative's shortcomings. He paints each number in appealingly wide, watery brushstrokes that take up a quarter of each spread, and his intentionally stiff characters-from fierce fish to rabbits in urban gear-appear strangely hip. Hand-lettered text effectively complements the blocky illustrations and broad areas of solid color. Despite the limits of Cherrill's storytelling, his artwork has spirit to spare. Ages 2-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.