The Crayon Counting Book »

This colorful rhyme teaches counting by twos--two different ways. First, children use the even numbers to count up to 24. Then, they start over with the odd numbers. Along the way readers learn ususal colors, such as purple hairstreak and emerald boa--borrowed from Jerry Pallotta's alphabet books.

Publishers Weekly

In a high-tech approach to a low-tech subject, computer-generated crayons strike different poses on each page of this surprisingly animated counting book. The crayons appear in rows, pyramids and pairs do-si-do-ing in a line; they stand on their heads and lie in piles. The rhyming text counts by twos, first by even numbers ("A set of twins joins the color scheme,/ which brings the count to precisely sixteen"), then by odds ("Seventeen pastels, delicate and light/ Nineteen hotshots, bold and bright"). While the reader is ostensibly counting crayons from a box of 24, she must suspend disbelief: obviously there would not be 11 greens (with names like "iguana," "wasabi" and "emerald tree boa"), much less 15 blues, within a particular assortment. It's a slight book, but a colorful one. Ages 3-8. (Aug.)