COUNTING OVEJAS

As comfortable and cozy as the fuzzy pink bunny slippers worn by its peaceful, amply-robed night-capped child, this bilingual bed-time sheep-counting story is an auditory and visual delight. Gorgeously colored sheep with curly wool and black faces and ears leap or are led, pushed, or trundled across blue, green, pink and purple clouds after the parents say good-night: “Buenas noches. / Good night. (bweh-nahs no-chehs).” The Spanish pronunciation is printed in smaller type immediately below the words. The water faucet drips, and the clock ticks. “Shhhhhhhh!” and then the parade of ovejas begins: “Una oveja Blanca. / One white sheep.” “¡Adiós, oveja Blanca! Good-bye, white sheep!” The text is repetitious, as a bed-time counting chant should be, varying only in numbers and colors of the sheep. The expressions on the faces of the sheep and the child, the stunning juxtaposition of shapes and colors, the ingeniously varied ways in which the sheep are transported and the potential for teaching colors and numbers in both English and Spanish make this a winner. (Picture book. 2-6)