1 Cookie, 2 Chairs, 3 Pears

September 1, 2013

PreS-K-The colorful photographs are the focus of this counting book. "Nine buttons in neat rows. Let's count the buttons in each row. Nine lines of colorful cookies." The minimal text is neither rhyming nor clever, but rather matter of fact. The images are attractive, with natural outdoor shots mixed with staged scenes. There are cookies cut into the shape of numbers, 6 flowering pots, 7 egg yolks in a bowl, 13 colorful markers, 15 tulips, and 20 eggs. The book ends with the question, "If we take them [the eggs] all away, how many are left?" The last page shows an empty egg carton, labeled "Zero. 0." This volume will be a useful resource in classrooms as a bright, uncluttered, straightforward exercise in counting.-Stephanie Farnlacher, Trace Crossings Elementary School, Hoover, AL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013
Brocket continues her Clever Concepts series with this look at numbers from one to 20. From ordinary objects and shots of the numbers found in the world to cookie cutouts of the numbers and graffiti on a wall, the brightly colored and patterned photographs take center stage. "We can find four things / that are the same. / Four that are different. / Or two of each." The photos show a "4" on a door, four identical striped beach chairs, four different-colored triangle pennants on a string and a checkerboard-patterned slice of cake. Clever use of embroidery melds the real and the sewn on some pages. But readers need to have a firm grasp of the slippery concept of numbers-vs.-numerals once they get into the double digits so as to avoid some headaches and confusion. The page devoted to the number 10 also uses number-shaped cookies, so there are actually 11 cookies; Brocket states that "There are twelve / numbers on the clock"; and, really jarring, the end copyright page includes a picture of the actual cookie cutters from 0 through 8--6 must double as 9. But with an adult to guide children, the pictures should help them parse the distinctions. Brocket once again presents a pleasingly huge variety of objects, from the mundane to the fantastic and everything in between. (Counting book. 4-6)

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October 15, 2013
Preschool-G The latest of Brocket's Clever Concepts series offers considerably more than counting practice. With big, bright close-up photos of arranged fruits, flowers, numbers, buttons, cookies, and other items both common and unique, the book not only leads viewers from 1 to 20, with occasional pauses to tally (How many socks in a box? That's right, seven) but also demonstrates addition and subtraction (Twenty eggs on a table. If we take them all away, how many are left?); tucks in work with sets (Let's count the buttons in each row); the notion of fractions (Fifteen is halfway between ten and twenty); and other math concepts. Meanwhile, her pictures go well beyond standard fare: a bold visual choice is a pair of metallic spray-painted owls from a street mural for the number two. She frequently challenges young viewers to make mental leaps. Can you count how many eggs are in the bowl?, for instance, is matched to a bowl full of floating yolks. Each spread offers multiple opportunities for discussion as well as eye and brain work. Clever, indeed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)