Swan Harbor: A Nature Counting Book
PreSchool-Grade 2-In a preface, Rankin invites readers to tour the Maine coast, her home. From sea roses to sandpipers and lobsters, she provides 20 countable plants and animals that almost come to life. A large, legible white numeral is placed at the bottom of each picture; the only text is a word on the border identifying the featured fauna or flora, leaving the acrylic ink-and-paint illustrations to thrive without competition. The subjects of the paintings have a beloved aspect yet lack sentimentality, and perspective and sensibility are reminiscent of the author/illustrator's The Handmade Alphabet (Dial, 1991). Each picture includes a detail that hints at what is to come on the following page, an increasingly common convention in picture books that feels fresh here. A closing spread of a harbor landscape encompasses all of the previously featured living things, and is followed by two pages of "Intriguing Nature Facts" about them. (Who knew eastern cottontail rabbits can leap 10 to 15 feet?) An effective concept book, Swan Harbor is even better as a clean, strong portrait of the coastal Maine environment.Liza Graybill, Worcester Public Library, MACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.