One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough - Hardcover

Duke (Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One) adds another feather to her cap with this addition primer. The book's title comes from the opening vignette, which finds a single, sad guinea sitting by a checkerboard. But this guinea pig is soon joined by a peer to make "two smiling guinea pigs," and the story is off and running. The gang of guinea pigs grows one by one during a romp through a sunny, playground-like landscape; large, colorful numerals take center stage in each scene, providing the audience with easy-to-follow visual cues. To drive home the notion of numeric language, the appropriate equation (e.g., 1 + 1 = 2) is printed in the lower-right corner when each stage of addition is completed. Duke connects each successive vignette with zest and imagination: for example, the "five flying guinea pigs" who are gleefully bouncing on a trampoline land smack in the middle of another guinea pig's elaborate sand castle, creating "six sorry guinea pigs." At last, nine guinea pigs, cranky after their long day, are pacified by a 10th, "big" guinea pig; returning home, they are reunited with their parents for a total of 20 guinea pigs?"and twenty," Duke concludes, "is plenty." With mixed media drawings that bubble with energy from beginning to end, this is an exuberant and clever introduction to math. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreSchool-Grade 3?Duke's adorable guinea pigs romp through the pages of this cleverly layered and constructed concept book. Counting and basic addition of numerals from 1 to 10 are introduced in a spare but clever text. Visual reinforcements abound as one guinea pig totes one wagon that holds one of each kind of toy. As the numbers of animals increase, so do the objects on each page, implicitly introducing the concept of sets as the spread with three "giggling guinea pigs" shows them cavorting amid three crayons, three balloons tied to one guinea pig's waist, and three paper clips tossing or tipping from another one's ears. Math symbols such as equal and plus signs are incorporated into the acrylic illustrations in which pastel pinks, sunny yellows, and baby blues predominate. As the numbers increase, so do the frivolity and energy of the pictures as these little creatures seem to almost leap, run, or spread themselves from one page to another. After 10, the addition of another 10 "mom or dad guinea pigs" is a great way to end, since "twenty is plenty."?Jane Marino, Scarsdale Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.