Children regard counting as play, not as the beginnings of math.
Too bad that attitude goes away long before algebra.
It would be tough for a 5-year-old to compute the number of terrific counting books out there. Here are two recent titles.
"1, 2, Buckle My Shoe" (Harcourt, $16, 32 pages; ages 4-7) by Anna Grossnickle Hines is a lovely take on the classic nursery rhyme.
Hines made a quilt for each cheerful illustration, using fabric, buttons, yarn, rickrack and a combination of fanciful machine and hand stitching. Each number appears big and bold on its own page, with the same number of bright buttons.
On alternate pages, a girl wearing star-patterned overalls shuts the door, picks up sticks and carries out the other actions in the rhyme.
The buttons provide counting practice. At the end, a two-page spread repeats the numbers in their original fabrics. This time, they are matched with fabric hands that have the corresponding number of buttons sewn to the tips of fingers.
The reproduction quality is so terrific that youngsters will run their fingers over the pages expecting to feel cloth and buttons.
Fair warning, "The Baker's Dozen: A Counting Book" (Henry Holt, $16.95, 32 pages; ages 4-7) by Dan Andreasen might require a walk to the pastry shop after each reading. It's mouth-watering.
The tale follows a rosy-cheeked baker through the early hours as he readies the day's wares.
Andreasen's rhymes are deft: "In tins the perfect size he bakes three cherry pies." He bakes until he gets to 12 cupcakes. The baker's dozen comes in the 13 customers waiting outside as he opens the doors.
Andreasen, who has provided wonderful illustrations for many picture books, outdoes himself with these lusciously colored oils. The baker is endearing. And he doesn't just bake – he provides circuslike antics, balancing 10 tortes on an index finger or juggling the cupcakes.
The last double-page spread shows all the scrumptious- looking pastries lined up next to their numerals.
