Reviewed in this issue: Board Books:    Count On Me written and illustrated by Alice Provensen    A You're Adorable words and music by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise and Sidney    Lippman.  Illustrated by Martha Alexander Picture Books:    Happy Birthday Maisy and Maisy at the Farm written and illustrated by    Lucy Cousins    Busy Toes by C.W. Bowie.  Illustrated by Fred Willingham    Where Do I Live? *  I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art selected by Lucy Micklethwait    Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes written and illustrated by Stephen R.    Swinburne *  Yo! Yes? written and illustrated by Chris Raschka    Preston's Goal! written and illustrated by Colin McNaughton    What do You See When You Shut Your Eyes?  by Cynthia Zarin.    Illustrated by Sarah Durham    Look-Alikes by Joan Steiner.  Photographs by Thomas Lindley    Middle Grade Fiction:    Rinkitink in Oz by L. Frank Baum.  Illustrated by John R. Neill    The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Illustrated by John R. Neill    The New You by Kathleen Leverich    The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rebecca Rupp    The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli Middle Grade Nonfiction: *  Awesome Alphabets written and illustrated by Mike Artell Young Adult Fiction:    The Revelations of Saint Bruce by Tres Seymour    Broken Chords by Barbara Snow Gilbert    Truly Grim Tales by Priscilla Galloway    Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas NOTES FROM THE WINDOWSILL                           ISSN 1078-8697 An electronic journal of book reviews.  Copyright 1998 Wendy E. Betts. Reproduction for personal and non-commercial use is permitted only if this copyright notice is retained.  Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission. Mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with comments or questions. All reviews by Wendy Betts unless otherwise noted. For info and archives, see http://www.armory.com/~web/notes.html Vol. 6, No. 9                                     Novemeber 1998 _Count On Me_ written and illustrated by Alice Provensen. Harcourt Brace, 1998 (0-15-201510-8) $14.95 This attractively packaged, novelty set of counting books includes ten small board books in a box, one for each number from one to ten. Each book also has a different theme:  book one invites readers to count animal babies, book two looks at traffic and book ten counts different kinds of berries.  Neither the lightly rhyming text nor the small watercolor pictures are particularly striking, but just playing with the books in their boxes will help reinforce the numbers and their order.  (1-4) _A You're Adorable_ words and music by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise and Sidney Lippman.  Illustrated by Martha Alexander.  Candlewick, 1994 (1-56402-237-4) $9.95 This illustrated version of the popular standard A You're Adorable may not be the most sensible way to teach the alphabet, but it has to be one of the most fun, offering a delightful musical memory aid that's also a perfect way to let children know you think they're special. Each letter has its own playful little drawing that lovingly illustrates the accompanying verse; Alexander's delicately beautiful children and animals make her the ideal illustrator for the song. Although I'm thrilled to have a quote from my hardcover review on the back of this board book edition, I have to say I prefer the original format; new pastel backgrounds are attractive, but shrinking the pictures inevitably dims some of their liveliness and _expression_, and very young children need sharper lines and contrasts than are found in these soft-focused pictures in any case.  But the board book would be a good choice for an older child who still tends to be hard on books. (2-5) _Happy Birthday Maisy_ and _Maisy at the Farm_ written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins.  Candlewick, 1998 (0-7636-0577-8; 0-7636-0576-X) $12.99 each There's something about the Maisy characters, with their thick black outlines and bright blocks of color, that just makes you wish you could pick them up and play with them