A SPRING STROLL IN THE CITY

Young readers follow a child through a city neighborhood counting what they see.

Busy illustrations only vaguely depict city living. Buildings in some backgrounds are multistory, and this brown-skinned child’s neighborhood is diverse: a girl in a hijab, a boy wearing an African kufi, children with different skin tones and hair textures. Unfortunately, this casual diversity borders on stereotyping with “8 straw sombreros hung on a pole” above a child mariachi band while the protagonist dances with another kid. Perhaps it’s Cinco de Mayo? Indeed, many spring holidays are crammed into this walk: “1 giant shamrock,” “matzo stacked 5 boxes high,” and “7 eggs in a bowl” all make their appearances with no clear sense of the passage of time. Readers may wonder how the “6 fluffy bunnies” against a neutral background fit into this city stroll. The colorful illustrations are sweet, but the counting task takes a back seat to the whimsical decorative elements. The “2 kites in a tree” are hidden by the tree’s leaves, and the “3 bunches of tulips” are hard to distinguish from other flowers in the busy scene. This challenge persists with young readers asked to count small items or things they may not readily recognize.

Springtime, yes—but not particularly effective as a counting book nor for showing city life.