Countdown to Spring! An Animal Counting Book

What a wonderful way for preschoolers to practice counting and, at the same time, celebrate the coming of spring! From ten little ladybugs crawling all around the crocuses to one Easter basket brimful of carrots, corn, berries, and other treats for the animals, this book is a joy to share with a very young child. Meilo So’s inspired and deft watercolor paintings of bunnies, chicks, ducklings, and other little woodland creatures set against a tapestry of flowers capture the very essence of spring.

Once spring has sprung, all the little woodland and meadow critters come out to play. Janet Schulman and Meilo So celebrate the dawn of this gentle season with a perfectly lovely counting book. From "10 Ladybugs crawling all around the crocuses" to "1 Easter Basket filled with treats for all the animals," the countdown includes peeping chicks, scurrying squirrels, and creeping foxes, all painted in So's spare, appealing watercolors. A riot of wildflowers and marsh reeds serves as a backdrop for each beautifully arranged spread, with the animals to be counted frolicking or fluttering all around. Learning to count will be easy with this happy, memorable picture book.

Acclaimed children's book publisher and author Janet Schulman is the anthologist of You Read to Me & I'll Read to You. Award-winning artist Meilo So's delicate watercolors can also be seen in The 20th-Century Children's Poetry Treasury and It's Simple, Said Simon, among other gems. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter