WE ALL WENT ON SAFARI

In a fresh, bright successor to Tom Feelings’s classic Moja Means One (1971), Krebs (The Beeman, 2002) and Cairns (The Spider Weaver, 2001, etc.) team up to invite readers to tour the Serengeti with a group of young Maasai, counting animals in English and Swahili as they go. The text’s easy, natural rhythm makes reading aloud a pleasure, “We all went on safari / Where the treetops intertwine. / We met mischievous monkeys, / So Doto counted nine.” Each sharply detailed scene glows with jewel-like color, set off by the traditionally dressed human figures’ heads and limbs. In the end, all settle down comfortably for a twilight sing: “We all went on safari, / In the sunset’s fading light. / We built ourselves a campfire / And bid our friends ‘Good night.’ ” Further information about the Maasai, Tanzania, the ten children’s Swahili names, and the equal number of wild creatures met along the way close this brilliant, horizon-expanding outing. (map, counting pronunciation guide) (Picture book. 5-8)