1 Big Salad: A Delicious Counting Book

When is a counting book not just a counting book? When it’s a recipe, too. Taking readers from one to 10, Medina (Smick) uses loose black lines to transform various photographed vegetables (from a Washington, D.C., farmer’s market, no less, as an art note reveals) into wonderfully expressive animals. The reedy roots of two oblong radishes make perfect mouse tails after Medina draws on ears, legs, and snouts; leafy red lettuce transforms into the manes of “seven radicchio lions”; and in what’s perhaps the best scene, citrus wedges become the bodies of “ten clementine kitties,” shown stretching, leaping, licking themselves, and napping. Adding in avocado, peppers, walnuts, and a few other items, Medina leaves readers with “one big delicious salad”—with no animals harmed in the making. Up to age 3. Agent: Gillian MacKenzie, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. (June)