After teaching children their ABCs with his stellar L M N O Peas, Keith Baker now models how to count from one to 10 and then (by tens) to 100. And once again, he tucks a ladybug into each double-page spread.
A lone pea stands on top of the numeral one with a telescope to kick things off: "One pea searching--look, look, look," and a pair of peas, perched on the numeral two, are fishing ("hook, hook, hook"). They cast their lines near three peas, each in his or her own boat (one wears a ponytail): "row, row, row." Many examples demonstrate teamwork: the peas plant, do puzzles and dance together. The delight is in the details. For "Eight peas racing--dash, dash, dash," one's a clear winner, four cluster near the finish line, a pair run past the figure eight, and the last lags due to a lost shoe. The author-artist creates a clever transition from 10 to 20 with "Eleven to nineteen--skip, skip, skip!," and traces a light blue path of three peas jumping rope, and skipping from numeral to numeral.
Children will especially enjoy counting the peas on the larger numeral spreads. For 30 ("Peas honking--beep, beep, beep!"), the green heroes ride tandem bicycles, go-carts, sports cars, taxis and trucks. They each hold a numbered pennant from one to 100 for the penultimate spread, then invite children to start all over again ("Ready? 1-2-3..."). And they will, with gusto. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness