cover image Count and Color: Fly

Count and Color: Fly

Nicola O’Byrne. Blue Apple (Random, dist.), $9.99 paper (72p) ISBN 978-1-60905-342-0

Counting, coloring, and collective nouns go hand in hand in a coloring book that features striking linoleum prints of 12 flying animals, including butterflies, flamingoes, bats, and sugar gliders. O’Byrne creates her own unorthodox pattern, with pages alternately showing one and then two of each animal, followed by a group of the creatures for readers to count (“How many in this circus of puffins?”). The portraits of the single animals are brilliantly colored and complete; readers are invited to break out their crayons for the subsequent pages, which also show large numerals and the animals’ names. A clever and multifaceted concept book that connects diverse species through a shared characteristic. Available simultaneously: Count and Color: Swim. Ages 3–6. Agent: The Bright Agency. (Apr.)