One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough - Softcover

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.

This is not a counting book, but an adding book; Duke (Archaeologists Dig for Clues, 1997, etc.) uses number-driven events to introduce simple addition, thereby reinforcing the learning of numbers, and in the process creating an interesting story that shows off the personality of each character. ``One lonely guinea pig plus one other lonely guinea pig make two smiling guinea pigs.'' As the animals increase in number, they become a gang, picnicking, jumping, singing till they meet up with ``ten mom or dad guinea pigs,'' and make twenty--or plenty. A lot of clear space and Duke's unpretentious, almost cartoonish illustrative style has to its credit many details that make the book even more fun: a homemade costume constructed of feathers and paper clips; a boom box, a vending machine, and other paraphernalia that children will like. The numerals appear as big as life in the middle of the scenes, in a book that is warm and playful from beginning to end. (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.