123s and ABCs

PreS-Gr 1—Jenkins's newest album makes learning your ABCs and 123s easy and enjoyable as young children develop basic alphabet and counting skills through game play and the repetition of simple phrases and melodies. Jenkins's warm vocals pair nicely with the ukulele, banjo, guitar, and viola accompaniments. This album contains classics, such as "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and "This Old Man," as well as songs and counting games in Spanish, Swahili, and Yiddish. Other tracks include the action rhyme "One Potato, Two Potato" in which children count and stack "potatoes;" "One, Two, Three, O'Leary," a call-and-response tune sung in both English and Spanish; "Numbers and Alphabets," sung by the children of the Dearborn Park Preschool; and "Ten Green Bottles," an introduction to simple subtraction. Rather than striving for musical perfection, Jenkins focuses on creating a fun learning experience for toddlers and preschoolers. In doing so, she has created an album that is perfect for children's storytimes. A valuable addition to any library collection.—Amanda Spino, Ocean County Library, NJ