One Big Building

June 1, 2004
PreS-K-Counting, hidden numbers to find, and fun facts are included in these two books. The first one presents 11 vegetables, from 1 tomato to 11 peppers, resulting in 12 plates of salad for a family. Each page records the harvesting with sentences featuring 11 different verbs and alliteration of adjectives and nouns, which will encourage vocabulary expansion. The second title describes construction from the ground up, with "One big plan for making a big building" to a handy enumeration of the machines needed to complete it, culminating with "Twelve stories tall, the new building gleams in the sun." "Fun Facts" includes information about the world's tallest structure (the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario) and a listing of occupations connected with construction. In both books, bright, bold illustrations on full spreads make the items easy to count. Multiple uses and learning opportunities make these titles useful purchases.-Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2004
Reviewed with Michael Dahl's " From the Garden" .

PreS-K. These Know Your Numbers titles are a pleasant departure from the cartoonish artwork and uninspiring design exhibited by many picture books in series. They feature inviting, bright illustrations that liven up a potentially dry topic--counting--with enticing, real-world situations: building a skyscraper, harvesting vegetables to make tossed salad for dinner. Though both books are well done, " Building, " perhaps, shines brightest. Little ones will find Ouren's bustling workers and vehicles in bold primary colors mesmerizing, and they'll love counting all 12 stories of the finished building, so tall that the horizontally formatted book must be rotated 90 degrees to accommodate a picture of it. The inclusion of a glossary, an index, and Web resources seems like overkill for an audience this young, but other extra features are more thoughtfully conceived. Sidebars depict each number in three different ways--as a word, a digit, and a series of dots--and the numerals hidden somewhere on each spread will keep children engaged. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)