Counting Chickens

The notion that one shouldn’t count one’s chickens before they have hatched has been around for centuries, but for an African boy named Tobi, there isn’t much else to do. Tobi’s friends all have animals, as well, and over the course of one week, they all begin to have babies. “On Monday, Ade’s cow had a calf,” writes Alakija (A Stork in a Baobab Tree). “Tobi’s hen laid one egg.” On the days that follow, Tunde’s sheep bears two lambs, “Bisi’s goat had three kids,” and so on. The eggs from Tobi’s hen? They just sit there, leaving Tobi feeling bored and left out. Alakija’s acrylic paintings, given rough texture through pencil shading, present vibrant images of contemporary village life—one boy chats on his cell phone soon after his pig gives birth to six piglets. Throughout, readers can count Tobi’s eggs, his friends’ animals, and their offspring, and after the seven chicken eggs finally hatch (and grow up to lay eggs of their own), children can seek out 50 chickens in the final spread. An inviting account of the rewards of patience. Ages 3–6. (Oct.)