ONE HORSE WAITING FOR ME
by Patricia Mullins & illustrated by Patricia Mullins
From Mullins (Dinosaur Encore, 1993, etc.) comes a collection of factual and fabled horses ready to be counted. Wisps of torn tissue paper form the surrounding clouds, skies, and grasses against which are placed a myriad of unidentified Arabians, Appaloosas, work, rocking, and carousel horses, circus performers, Pegasus-like flying horses, and ``sea'' horses in numbers from one through twelve. A single rhyming line corresponds with each bold-faced numeral. Textured Japanese papers with visible threads are layered to promenade horses swimming amidst a moon-surfaced sea, flying through semi-transparent isinglass clouds or ``running wild and free,'' flaunting flying manes. Fossil-like impressions of stars and snowflakes lend an ethereal atmosphere to the fantasy spreads. Less useful as a counting book for the toddler set, and lacking names, captions, and labels for the more equine-inclined, this picture book will find its audience in pre-reading horse enthusiasts, who will be happy to absorb Mullins's many renderings of this much-loved beast. (Picture book. 3-5)