LET'S COUNT IT OUT, JESSE BEAR

Carlstrom and Degen team up for their sixth entry in a beloved series. Cuddly Jesse and his furry family effortlessly explore numbers 1-20 while enjoying simple pleasures that are especially sweet to preschoolers. Carlstrom is at her jaunty best with a series of rhymes for the first ten numbers: In ``Happy Hopping Two Shoes,'' Jesse is ``Jumping high,\Landing loud.\New shoes dancing,\New shoes proud.'' Much more is celebrated, including instant photos of the family of ``We three bears,'' four ``thumping, bumping'' bumper cars, ``five alive'' crabs skittering across the sandy beach, seven stars counted with Daddy, up to ``Ten and Back Again'' is especially appealing, with Jesse's careful enumeration of rocks: ``But nine I'll give to Mommy soon,\And ten\Will be my little moon.'' Addition is the focus of the final spreads ending with the delicious prospect of ``19 and one more are 20,'' as in 20 ice-cream cones. Degen's now-familiar watercolors are as snug as ever. (Picture book. 2-6)