Amazon Category:  Children Publisher: Harcourt Brace ISBN-10:  0152006664 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 32 Copyright: Feb 1 1999 Description: Featuring a wide range of animals, including jaguars, seals, squids, salamanders, giraffes, and trout, each of the ten creatures depicted lives in one of the earth's biomes (a community of living organisms defined by its environment). A glossary describes each biome and includes information about its inhabitants. From Melinda Medley Sprinkle - Children's Literature This uniquely designed number book introduces children to the magnificent world of spotted creatures from around the world. From one leopard ray to ten tundra butterflies, a different animal represents each number from one to ten. Lesser's use of word play and colorful rhyming language create a warm, rich atmosphere all children will love. Adorned with their spots and glorious colors, the animal paintings are alive--jumping, looping, prowling, and flying from page to page. This book not only teaches numbers but also presents a sense of nature and wildlife. Lovely text and beautiful, vivid pictures make this book a treasure to own. An interesting teaching page that describes each of the animals' biomes is also included. Children are sure to enjoy counting the animals as well as their spots. Excerpt Spotted creatures wait for you. Snoop and find them- count them, too. Flapping, looping, cruising spots… one leopard ray Slinking, prowling, hunting spots… two sleek jaguars

From Dr. Beverly Kobrin - Children's Literature
Laura Regan's rich oil and gouache paintings make Carolyn Lesser's introduction to creatures with spots an aesthetic experience not to be missed. The species--from one leopard ray with "flapping, looping, cruising spots" to ten tundra butterflies with "sipping, flying, skying" ones--inhabit many biomes, all of which Ms. Lesser briefly describes.

From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-In this attractive book, children are invited to count a variety of creatures with spots. Each two-page spread features an oil-and-gouache painting of an animal (or group of the same animals) with a few words describing it on the verso and the creature's name and a number from 1 to 10 on the recto, e.g., "Slinking, prowling, hunting spots...two sleek jaguars." While the pictures and text complement one another beautifully, the art is the real scene-stealer here. Spectacular double-page paintings present the animal(s) in dramatic detail, demanding repeated viewings. Although the somewhat sophisticated vocabulary may make this title less accessible to newly independent readers, the lyrical text and repetitive word patterns make it a good read-aloud choice. The endpage discusses the creatures' habitats. A nicely designed, slightly different entry for concept sections that's sure to have tremendous appeal, especially with nature enthusiasts.-Arwen Marshall, New York Public Library

From Kirkus Reviews
In this visual feast from Lesser and Regan (Dig Hole, Soft Mole, 1996), so striking are the oil and gouache wildlife portraits that, despite the counting book framework, numbers are nearly an afterthought. Every spread has a you-are-there quality, as if readers are peering into a rock-strewn stream to spy six fire salamanders or scuba diving alongside one leopard ray in the murky blue. The book opens with an invitation``Spotted creatures/wait for you. Snoop and find them/count them, too''as Lesser toys with language, using active verbs to describe the kinds of spots found on each animal: ``Staring, rippling, jetting spots'' dapple five reef squid; ``loping, gazing, nibbling spots'' grace seven reticulated giraffes. Although spots are the unifying theme, the creatures have been carefully selected not only for their markings but for their habitats or biomes, identified and outlined in a final glossary. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.