School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Day's simple rhyming text encourages children to count natural phenomena. From one moon and sun to stars in "sets too big to count," her examples give viewers opportunities to hone their skills. The large format encourages group participation. For the most part, the items to be counted are easily identified. Five arms on five sea stars and eight undulating octopus limbs are exceptionally clear. The seven colors of the rainbow shading from one to another will be harder to distinguish, and the child's crossed arms hide one finger. Yet, Cyrus's thoughtfully composed illustrations will reward repeated viewings, because featured objects recur in several places. For example, the three bees hovering in the lower corner of the spread featuring two bluebirds appear prominently when the page is turned. Sharp-eyed viewers will be rewarded by such discoveries, including the appearance of many plants and animals traced in the night sky among the stars. VERDICT This book can serve as a group introduction to encourage students to spot sets in the natural world and inspire one-on-one or independent viewers to spot the interconnections in the illustrations.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this calm counting book, Day (A Is for Alliguitar) numbers elements in nature: "What in the world comes one by one?/ A nose. A mouth. The moon. The sun." Day's rhyming text follows this formula from one to 10, detailing things that come "two by two" (birds' wings) and "in threes" (clover leaves and bees' segmented bodies). For "eight by eight," Day names "Octopus limbs that undulate," and in case anyone thinks first of spiders' legs, an author's note suggests each reader "look for a numerical set in the world around you." (Nine is a tough one, and the nine-spined stickleback fish fills the bill.) Cyrus (The Voyage of Turtle Rex) pictures earth, water, and sky in serigraph-style digital art with limpid backdrops that resemble watercolor wash. His imagery-including a spread of a child dipping his toes in a tide pool where sea stars congregate-evokes pristine places in nature, even if his method gives the settings and creatures a curiously plasticky smoothness. Pleasant and diverting, this numerical list may well encourage readers to notice patterns in natural phenomena. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
