ONE SMILING SISTER

Exuberant rhymes describe an energetic preschooler’s day in this colorful counting book. Readers can happily count along with the smiling sister as she bustles through her busy schedule. The fun begins at breakfast, as brother and sister sit down to eat. After that, it’s off to preschool for sister, where a plethora of counting opportunities abound—from the number of children participating in story time to how many doughnuts are available at snack time. Coats (One Hungry Baby, 1994) focuses on everyday items and circumstances familiar to young children, such as three friends walking hand-in-hand to playgroup and five jars of paint await a budding artist’s inspiration. Several lines of verse introduce each new number, with a full-color, two-page spread accompanying the rhyme. The featured number is highlighted via capitalization, although the text lacks any visual representation of the numeral itself. (“NINE fingers pointing up, reaching very high. / Twinkle, twinkle, little star! / Let’s all touch the sky.”) Bolam’s (Louie’s Goose, 1999) full-bleed illustrations offer vibrantly colored scenes from a child’s day, depicting a merry assortment of multicultural children doing what children do best: namely, play. Several of the illustrations offer a slight counting challenge, e.g., for the seven kangaroos hopping, the accompanying picture reveals an entire playground full of frolicking children, and it’s up to readers to seek out the ones imitating the bouncy beasts. Lively rhymes about fun activities combined with spirited pictures make this one young readers will want to hear over and again. (Picture book. 1-4)