An exploration in rhyming text of the idea of sets in nature - birds having two wings, deer having four hooves, starfish having five arms - What In the World?: Numbers in Nature is an unusual and thought-provoking counting book, one that highlights the beauty of the world around us, even as it teaches about numbers in the natural world.

I found that Nancy Raines Day's poetic narrative read quite well, and think that this would make a good story-hour selection, with the right audience. The artwork by Kurt Cyrus, although created digitally, has a certain stylized collage-art feel to it, and was really quite lovely. I liked the use of color to communicate the different times of day, and thought the depiction of the various creatures being mentioned was rather appealing. Recommended to anyone looking for numbers and/or counting books that are a little different, or for children's books that look at nature, or at the mathematical concept of sets. ( )

Ryhming book that counts sets of numbers such a dog legs, paws, tails etc.

One of the coolest counting books I've seen! Illustrations are stunning and the idea of counting things in nature that contain one, two... ten of these is well thought and executed to engage every child.

This lyrical exploration of numerical sets invites interaction–“What in the world comes one by one?” –allowing the reader to pause and wait for answers before turning the page: “ A nose. A mouth. The moon.” “What in the world comes two by two?” Children will think of many things before the turn of the page reveals the rhyming response, “A pair of birds with wings of blue.” With a repetitive refrain going up to ten and then the final page asking, “And what comes in sets too big to count,” the child is introduced to the mathematical language of sets. Gorgeous illustrations and the invitation to contemplate the questions make for a stellar read aloud in k-3 math classes. ( )