The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Young, Cybèle

Ten Birds

32 pp. | Kids Can | March, 2011 | Trade ISBN 978-1-55453-568-2 $16.95

(2) K-3 In a clever, handsomely illustrated counting book, ten birds, described in report-card lingo ("Brilliant"; "Highly Satisfactory") endeavor to cross a river. Happening on some odd mechanical devices, each contrives its own transport. It's "Needs Improvement" who's smart enough to simply walk over the bridge. This may suit fledgling surrealists better than budding engineers; Young's elegant pen-and-ink drawings are rife with entertaining incongruities.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2011