One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough

Rating:
Summary: It's true. One guinea pig is NOT enough!
Review: In the beginning of this bright and cheerful counting book, Buttercup is one "lonely guinea pig" surrounded by toys but no one to play with. However, lonely Buttercup plus another lonely guinea pig "make two smiling guinea pigs." Adding one silly guinea pig makes three giggling guinea pigs. In like fashion, more and more guinea pigs join the fun, changing from smiling, to giggling, to dancing, to flying through the air. When the five guinea pigs come down, the illustration reveals that they have destroyed one proud guinea pig's sand castle. The situation is repaired by the addition of one smart guinea pig who helps turn them all into helpful rebuilding guinea pigs.

With the inclusion of food and a subsequent nap, one sneaky guinea pig creates another ruckus by putting ice cubes on her sleeping friends' noses. The trick has all nine guinea pigs angry with each other until one big guinea pig appears and settles them all with a stern expression. All ten guinea pigs troop home to their ten guinea pig parents who happily hug their offspring. The final page is full of guinea pigs climbing and playing on a large Arabic numeral twenty as the text assures us that "twenty is plenty."

Each of the guinea pigs has his or her own personality and distinct coloring. The lively illustrations add so much to the story that the text, while it enhances the experience, isn't necessary for the reader to understand the progression of the guinea pigs' afternoon, making this book a wonderful choice for a child who wants to "read" on his own.

This is a personal favorite.

Rating:
Summary: Guinea Pig Pleasures
Review: Plenty of company joins one lonely guinea pig in this counting book for young children. As Duke adds each unique guinea pig character to the mix, the reader carries out a simple addition equation. Numbers occupy a significant portion of each illustration which also introduce the + and = signs. Even with 10 guinea pigs, however, Duke gives each one a personality and spans a range of emotions and activities with lonely, smiling, silly, giggling, singing, dancing, jumping, flying, proud, sorry, smart, helpful, hungry, sneaky, fighting and good guinea pigs. The fluffy watercolor guinea pigs have a gentle yet frisky quality that keeps the pages turning as they roll from equation to equation. Excellent for introducing the mathematical concept of addition to a very young audience. Ages 3-5.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is great for my 4 year old who is just beginning to learn about addition. The illustrations are cute and the wording is so funny! We always read it more than once at a time.

Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful book
Review: We started reading this book when my son was 2 1/2 half - he's just turned 3 and we're still reading it most weeks. It's a great way to teach basic numbers, even before the concept of addition is meaningful. We count the number of guinea pigs on every page, and name the guinea pigs - good recognition and memory practice. At each number, all the details on the page match, giving more opportunities for counting. And it's a delightful story. A classic!