Numeralia

Gr 1–3—In this poem, Luján reinvents numbers through a fanciful lens. Number one looks like a tiny flag; two is a duck gliding across the water. Isol's borderless, exuberantly scribbled line drawings are well matched with the author's fresh vision. Particularly vivid is the spread depicting number four as "a chair hanging by its legs" on the ceiling. The image of the upside down laughing girl with flying hair sitting on that chair looks like it came straight from a child's imagination. This fanciful title succeeds in that it helps children view numbers in an irreverent, joyful way. However, some metaphors fall flat, and the illustrations do not clarify them. How does the number three resemble a bedtime kiss, for example? The free verse can be opaque, and unfortunately, when it drifts away from visual metaphor, the associations are clichéd and literal (e.g., the number seven is likened to Snow White's dwarves). The clever, child-friendly quality of the pictures almost compensate for fuzzy moments in the narrative, although the earth-toned palette seems heavy. Librarians could use this title to launch a creative writing activity in which kids can write stories about their favorite numbers. An uneven work with bright moments.—Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard High School Early College, Queens, NY