Toes, Teeth, and Tentacles: A Curious Counting Book

Gr 1-4–Fascinating facts are the focus of this concept book: “A banana slug has four tentacles. The upper two are used for seeing, and the lower two are responsible for feeling and smelling.” Every spread shows a white number on a circle of color followed by a list of body parts being counted: “4 Fins, pupils, fingers, canines and tentacles.” Four or five creatures made of detailed paper-collage are featured on these spreads, each with a small paragraph of information on a white background. The text for their body part(s) matches the color of the number featured. Internal organs are shown in a smaller, detailed picture in a circle below the creature, connected by a line. The story counts from one to 10, then climbs further into the double digits before offering “Even Bigger Numbers,” including “A giant African land snail has the most teeth of any snail—up to eighteen thousand.” The larger numbers are in their own color circles beside the creature whose body parts are being counted. A short introduction begins the book, and the last few pages have a paragraph with further information on each creature: length, habitat, etc., while a brief bibliography wraps it up.