THE BASEBALL COUNTING BOOK

An agreeable rhyming counting book with a baseball theme. The story opens on a little league field where the Blue Sox and the Stars face off: “Come play baseball/You could be a hero./The game’s starting score/is zero to zero.” The teams of boys and girls run up the numbers to 20, and baseball rules and lore are imparted painlessly: “When there’s a full count, we say, ‘Three and two.’/Five fingers up! His turn’s almost through.” A grand slam ends the game, with 19 ice cream cones and 20 baseball cards that give a clear and accurate summary of the main rules of the game. Shaw’s stocky acrylic-on-board figures have less zest than his beautifully rendered bats and balls, lush green field and blue sky, and a friendly, ice-cream-loving dog. Younger children whose radar may have picked up McGwire and Sosa, Piazza and Brosius will be ready for spring training after this one. (Picture book. 3-7)