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Sometimes, just sometimes, mind you, 20 guinea pigs can be too many. On a small green teetering boat in the middle of the sea, for example. That's when it might be a good idea for 10 to jump ship, leaving 10 floating guinea pigs (20-10=10). But soon one guinea pig is carried away by a bunch of balloons, leaving nine waving guinea pigs (10-1=9). And another swings off a rope, leaving eight sea... More

Sometimes, just sometimes, mind you, 20 guinea pigs can be too many. On a small green teetering boat in the middle of the sea, for example. That's when it might be a good idea for 10 to jump ship, leaving 10 floating guinea pigs (20-10=10). But soon one guinea pig is carried away by a bunch of balloons, leaving nine waving guinea pigs (10-1=9). And another swings off a rope, leaving eight seasick guinea pigs (9-1=8). Rodent by rodent, the furry little critters remove themselves from the scene, surfing, exploring, sneaking, fishing, until finally just one remains. But "one... can be fun."

In this sequel to her enormously popular addition picture book, One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough, Kate Duke now tackles subtraction. Giant numerals are incorporated into the seaworthy story line: a big purple number 4, for example, is wedged into the sand of the tiny tropical island and used as an anchor for the boat when all the remaining seafarers come ashore. The adorable, whimsically watercolored guinea pigs exude personality as they clamber all over the numbers, reminding young readers that, like a solitary guinea pig, math can be fun! To reinforce the subtraction lesson, the equation is printed after each artistic representation of the problem. The final scene shows all 20 guinea pigs reunited on the island, diving, daydreaming, and exploring to their hearts' content. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

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