KIPPER'S TOYBOX
by Mick Inkpen & illustrated by Mick Inkpen
Kipper, a charmingly fubsy dog, is concerned: something has nibbled a hole in his toybox; and when he dumps his toys out, he can count one too many: seven. Lined up for enumeration, the toys are six again; but after putting them back in the box, he finds eight noses. So it goes, with pleasing variations, until the floppy-eared pooch discovers what the alert young lapsitter will have been following all along in the engaging illustrations—a pair of mice, now nesting in Kipper's sock puppet. Like Walsh's Mouse Count (1991), an elegantly simple, satisfying story with a lot of opportunities for counting. (Picture book. 3-7)