Synopsis
This new offering has everything youve come to expect from a Pallotta book: breathtaking, realistic art; fascinating scientific information; and oh yes, playful, kid-friendly humor.
Count from zero to fifty by even numbers and learn why the Green Moray Eel is green (yellow slime covers its blue body), how much a Manta Ray can weigh (up to a ton and a half), which fish has blue teeth (a Harlequin Tusk Fish), and
more. The underwater world awaits you, so dive into this learning adventure!
Author Biography: Jerry Pallotta is the best-selling author of more than twenty books for children, including The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, The Jet Alphabet Book, and the acclaimed Dory Story. He travels extensively around the country talking with children about his writing. Jerry lives in Needham, Massachusetts.
David Biedrzycki graduated from Kutztown State University and started illustrating in 1980. He has illustrated Dory Story, The Boat Alphabet Book, and The Freshwater Alphabet Book, all written by Jerry Pallotta. He lives in Medfield, Massachusetts.
Publishers Weekly
Backyard birds throng a hanging feeder in this counting book, arriving in pairs until they number 20. The cat has been lying in wait, but just as he finally pounces, the furry "gray streak" of a squirrel swoops in and the birds-chickadees, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, sparrows, cardinals, finches and more-take wing. Stiffly rhyming couplets narrate the slight story ("The number of birds/ grows larger so fast,/ The cat still watches/ the birds that fly past"), while prose captions briefly describe the feeding and social behaviors of each avian arrival. An appendix tells how to identify the male and female of each species. Mazzola's (illustrator of The Crayon Counting Book) bright digital paintings combine backgrounds of airbrush-like softness with foregrounds of almost photographic detail, lending the illustrations depth and luminosity. The attractively designed pages frame the text and illustrations with twig borders. By compelling readers to find what's new in each picture, the book trains the eye to differentiate among species. It's too bad the text is not as airborne as the art. Ages 3-8. (Mar.)