One Two That's My Shoe!

The same girl-dog pair--and same classic art style--from Apple Pie ABC is back in this twist on the nursery rhyme "One Two Buckle My Shoe." Lively illustrations show the dog playing keep-away with the girl's red shoe as the story counts items (five butterflies, six flowers, etc.) from one to ten. This is a step above most counting books, and the clean, bold art is superb.

The same girl-dog pair -- and same classic art style -- that starred in last year’s Apple Pie ABC (rev. 7/11) is back, and the little black-and-white beagle is up to some new tricks. Here, in a twist on the nursery rhyme "One Two Buckle My Shoe," most of the narrative action is carried by the lively illustrations that show the dog grabbing the girl’s red shoe and running out the back door. A game of backyard keep-away and then a chase ultimately end in the dog flustering nine baby chicks and drawing the ire of ten mother hens, requiring a rescue of the dog by the girl. The numbers from one to ten appear in blocks in the corners of otherwise wordless pages, with items to count (five butterflies, six flowers, seven trees, eight sheets on a clothesline, etc.) appearing in the illustration without any reference in the text, although they do appear in silhouette at the bottom of each number block in case there is any confusion. This is a step above most counting books, and the clean, bold art is superb. kathleen t. horning