Ten for Me

K-Gr 2— In this story told in a singsong rhyme, Rose and Ed strive to learn about and catch butterflies. However, she is far behind him in numbers netted until she turns herself into a walking butterfly habitat. Ed starts out strong in catching and releasing with Rose cleverly overtaking him at the end of the competition. Various examples of counting are given by using combinations of 10, ordinal numbers, and tally marks. Brief facts are provided about butterflies, and Rose adds something to her outfit as each one is given. For example, "Black Swallowtails lay their eggs on plants like carrots, parsley, dill, fennel, and Queen Ann's Lace." Rose is then shown with a carrot in her pocket. Illustrations are large, colorful, and busy with a subplot of a caterpillar changing to a butterfly on Rose. Factual information from the girl's Butterfly Field Guide for Young Explorers is provided in a corner and is designed to look realistic as are tally marks for the competition on a spiral notebook. Readers will enjoy searching the lively spreads for items added to Rose's safari suit and spying the frog that hangs out near Ed. The style is reminiscent of Debra Lee Rose's "Twelve Days of Kindergarten" series (Abrams) with bits of information revealed as readers turn each page. "For Creative Minds" provides extension activities on counting, patterns, and butterflies. The emphasis of this book is more on addition than butterflies and life cycles. Use or recommend Seymour Simon's Butterflies (HarperCollins, 2011) for butterfly information for primary students.—Nancy Baumann, University of Missouri-Columbia