Five Creatures

a picture book; illustrations by Tomek Bogacki; FSG/Frances Foster, 2001. Also available in France, Japan, and Mexico. On video from Scholastic/Weston Woods, and featured as a "bonus" story on the home-market DVD collection of animal stories, "Is Your Mama a Llama?"

Five creatures live in our house.
Two big and three small.
Two with gray hair, three with orange.
Only one who likes beets.

What People Say about Five Creatures

A Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book; American Library Association (ALA) notable children's book; Bulletin of the CCB blue ribbon; Child Magazine's Best Children's Book Award; Parent's Guide Children's Media Award; the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award for outstanding writing.

"Remarkably engaging, with lots of classroom project possibilities."

— starred review, Horn Book Magazine

"This clever, multi-layered book is as much for sharing and getting little ones on the path to deductive reasoning as it is for reading…Each of the spreads, many of which are viewed from an aerial perspective, offers some new insight into the configuration of the family, often something funny and unexpected…Parent and teachers will find lots of ways to use this -- along with just enjoying it."

— starred review, Booklist

"Numbers take on a whole new meaning in this exploration of the narrator's household…Young audiences will be unable to resist responding with their own new Venn diagrams of family practice."

— The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"When the last page is turned, you simply want more. Don't miss this very special new book…"

— Newport This Week