HOW MANY SQUIRRELS ARE IN THE WORLD?

Squirrels are the currency in this counting primer from educator and children’s performer Gundersheimer.

An enterprising child with brown skin, a flowing black ponytail, and a purple notebook describes a neighborhood investigation, from backyard to park and back. The rhyming text borders on doggerel but gets the job done. “I’m counting nine… // Now I see ten / Oh me oh my! / Will it ever end?” Each number in the text matches the numeral on the page—crayoned onto slips of notebook paper—in color. The child declares, “A group of squirrels is called a scurry / They move so fast, my eyes get blurry!” A bit overwhelmed by the frenetic movement of 20 of the critters, the narrator retreats to the backyard oak tree, where there’s activity aplenty among 10 squirrels. A final spread reveals the child and a tuckered-out pet dog, napping in the yard as a russet squirrel makes off with the notebook. The soft color palette—coral, purple, and blue with accents of yellow-orange and black—is repeated in the child’s striped sweater, the scampering squirrels, the bark and leaves of the oak tree, and more. The illustrator varies perspective and provides ample counting opportunities in cheerful scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A modest neighborhood adventure offers some upbeat one-to-20 counting practice.