MINE!

As the title and subtitle suggest, this rhyming board book depicts countable items for a beach picnic as children learn about sharing with friends.

From one to 10, each double-page spread features a child readying a quantity of supplies for the culminating beach party. Rivadeneira’s rhyming quatrains are broken into two couplets across two spreads each, which sometimes awkwardly breaks up the rhyme, and readers stopping to count the objects on the pages will lose the rhythm. The story’s final four pages include the full quatrain without breaks, making for a tighter read-aloud. Most of the stanzas have a solid cadence, but some are forced: “I have five ripe mangoes. / I sprinkle them with salt. // I have six avocadoes. / One’s too mushy (not my fault!).” Gulliver’s illustrations are softly drawn and include nice details that readers will enjoy pointing out: playful cats and dogs, adults busy in the background, bugs on the coffee mugs. The illustration with five mangoes could confuse younger readers, however, as there are actually six items (one mango is cut in half). The final two pages are a note to parents about children learning how to share. It’s a thoughtful inclusion even if the book mostly focuses on counting things and not so much on sharing.

So-so rhymes with charming illustrations, this one doesn’t stand out for either teaching counting or sharing.