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) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Eating your vegetables is a lot more fun if you're counting while doing it. Medina combines math and art by turning photographs of salad veggies into animals by adding creative black-line drawings, with the sum being an exuberant concept book for young foodies. Ample white space and a clean design leave room on each spread for a large numeral, the number word, and the corresponding amount of brightly colored veggie animals to be counted. One Avocado Deer uses half an avocado with the pit positioned as the nose. Two Radish Mice features the radish roots as their long tails. Five Tomato Turtles employs heirloom tomatoes for the turtle shells in the colorful mix. And who'd have thought that radicchio leaves would make such great lion manes? By the time the hungry reader gets to Ten Clementine Kitties they will be ready for the final spread One Big Delicious Salad! One final dash of fun is an appended salad dressing that young chefs can make to practice measuring and using simple fractions.--Dobrez, Cindy Copyright 2017 Booklist

Photographs of salad ingredients, embellished with details done in black ink, create whimsical arrays from one through 10. Each expansive, white double-page spread presents a large, bright numeral, its printed name, and a very funny invention, from one Avocado Deer to 10 Clementine Kitties. The ink strokes are playful and active, making the various ingredient-characters come to life. The pages with nine Romaine Dogs are particularly droll, with clever usage of the ups and downs of a lettuce leaf combining with the artist's swift pen strokes to show familiar canine antics. Less is decidedly more: after the alliteration of Tomato Turtles, it is refreshing to see Cucumber Alligators rather than Cucumber Crocodiles, and the text for the number eight meanders cheerfully from the established, animal-titling routine by showing eight Flying Walnuts, not Walnut Birds. The ingredients range from familiar to gourmet, with radicchio producing delightful manes on seven lions. Toddlers may giggle as they learn numbers and practice counting, while slightly older children will want to get out their markers and try to emulate the artwork. The counting ends gracefully with a wooden bowl full of all 10 goodies and a recipe for dressing. Even the endpapers are entertaining, crammed with tiny reproductions of the photographs. From layout to text to artwork, this counting book takes "playing with your food" to a new level. (Picture book. 2-4) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

PreS-Gr 1-With simple doodles, Medina adeptly transforms photographs of sumptuous fruits and vegetables into an array of cheery animals. The author counts her enchantingly quirky creations ("one avocado deer," "two radish mice"), resulting in an exuberant, mouth-watering medley that's sure to have children eager to master their arithmetic skills-and bound to inspire budding gourmands. The concept book has never been so fun. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.