City Numbers

Following City Alphabet (2009), this team offers an impeccably designed yet playful twist on the traditional counting book, with photographs of numbers found in an urban landscape. While the numbers are chronological%E2%80%94from three rusty red zeros on a metal garbage bin to the number 20 on another garbage container%E2%80%94Schwartz and Beam also include decimals, percents, prices, a fraction, and an image of a multi-digit barcode where 21 might have been. The number eight on snow-covered toilet-paper packaging and a disintegrating restaurant sign reading "15 Wings" subtly capture urban grit, but the real emphasis is on paying attention to the hidden surprises in the world's minutiae. Ages 3%E2%80%93up. (May)