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Reviewed by:
  • 1-2-3 Peas
  • Hope Morrison
Baker, Keith . 1-2-3 Peas; written and illus. by Keith Baker. Beach Lane/Simon, 2012. 34p. Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-4551-2 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-6575-6 $12.99 R 3-5 yrs.

In this companion to L-M-N-O Peas, the wildly animated crew of peas takes a numerical jaunt from 1 to 100. The rhyming text is carefully structured, as peas in rising numbers engage in various activities celebrated with a relevant repeated sound effect or tag word ("One pea searching—look, look, look/ Two peas fishing—hook, hook, hook"). The numeric sequence goes 1 through 10, then gracefully passes over the teens ("Eleven to nineteen—skip, skip, skip!"), continuing to count by tens all the way to one hundred. The crisply metric text makes this as much fun to read as it is to pore over, and it's a whole lot of fun to pore over. The relevant number of peas is shown for each iteration, with the number appearing both in word and huge numeral form; the numeral is treated as a physical element in the pea-rich vignettes for the little veggie participants to fish off of, drive around, or build on. The highly detailed activities of said peas are definitely worth a closer look (Peayoncé can be [End Page 66] found crooning on the "Seventy peas singing" page). In Baker's digitally rendered illustrations, textured fields of candy color stand out boldly against pages of stark white. The peas themselves are actual size, but they lead intricate lives unusual in the veggie kingdom and sport such minute details as hats, hairstyles, and teeny tiny expressive little eyes (they also have arms and legs, which allows for far more movement). While little listeners will appreciate the story, they will especially enjoy the opportunity to take a closer look when storytime is through.

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