COUNT THE WAYS, LITTLE BROWN BEAR

An evening repast enjoyed outdoors inspires a flurry of counting games for a mother bear and her young cub. Mama Brown Bear ingeniously fosters her little bear’s counting abilities by encouraging him to add up the numerous ways in which he is loved. This creative quantification of his mother’s love leads Little Brown Bear to count a variety of items specifically selected to tickle a youngster’s fancy. Over their picnic supper and throughout their evening bed-time routine, Little Brown Bear discovers his mother loves him more than he likes to catch a pair of fish, munch a quartet of apples, or receive a passel of hugs from his favorite stuffed animals. First-time illustrator Moore’s selection of sunny pastels for the detailed pastoral scenes and deeper hues for the evening sequences vivify her illustrations. Playful pictures depicting the duo savoring each other’s company underscore the tale’s tender message. While there is one illustration depicting the numerals one through ten flitting across the page, the lack of any direct numeral/word/object association makes this a bit of a stretch for a first introduction to numbers for young readers. However, older ones, with a surer grasp on their number line, will enjoy this clever foray into counting. (Picture book. 3-6)