100 Bears by Magali Bardos (review)

In a landscape with “1 forest” and “2 mountains,” there are “3 bears on each mountain.” Each page or spread reveals the next number in the sequence, and pretty soon “8 hunters” are after the bears; the adventures continue as the bears have a party, get sick, go to the theater, travel to exotic locales, and celebrate an elderly bear’s birthday, all while the hunters continue searching for the obstreperous bears. The numbers tick by until “everyone makes peace with 91 slices of gingerbread and 92 sugar pearls,” and soon, “99 stones” help the bears find their way home to the “100 trees” found in the original forest. The narrative structured around the bears combines with a lighthearted tone to make this inventive take on the traditional counting book effective. Bardos’ stunning art—in fluorescent tones of red, orange, fuchsia, purple, and turquoise and highlighted by white, black, and brown—is reminiscent of retro graphic design, and the bold compositions allow for group sharing. Some numbers are merely included as numerals in the art rather than countable sets (“The most athletic one wears shirt number 98”), which gives kids an occasional breather as the numbers increase. Those examples that do entice kids to count require some focus for the higher number and busier spreads, but the items are all honestly visible. Between its usefulness and its inviting illustrations, this will be a helpful title.