Ten Animals in Antarctica

♦ This spare counting book is set in Antarctica’s extreme landscape.
Antarctica, home to “icy deserts, mountain ranges, and volcanoes,” also hosts “amazing and unique animals,” 10 of which are explored in the text and backmatter of this simple picture book. Familiar animals such as emperor penguins and orcas are pictured in their habitats, as are less-familiar creatures such as Antarctic krill and blackfin ice fish. Collage-style illustrations place clean, colorful shapes against textured backgrounds to show the animals on the icy plains, “surveying the frosty floes” or “drifting with the turning tide.” The text, set in a large, clear typeface, makes lovely use of language, distilling the animals’ traits, habits, and settings into single, punchy lines full of alliteration, rhythm, and poignant description. Each spread includes the relevant numeral in a large display type and features one species, with the individual creatures large and easy to see and count. Young children will enjoy practicing their counting skills while learning more about an area of the world that captures the imagination. Backmatter offers further information about Antarctica, including its (several!) poles, and about each animal mentioned in the book at a higher reading level that will require interpretation for the target audience.
Brilliantly executed.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Striking cut-paper-collage illustrations of some of the hardy creatures that live in Antarctica are the standouts in this one-to-ten counting book. One leopard seal, two emperor penguins, three elephant seals, and more pop off striking blue-and-white backgrounds of icebergs and ocean waves. With seven flying squid, the scene shifts, plunging viewers into water that gets deeper and darker while Antarctic krill drift along and blackfin icefish swim by in the depths. Paper collage gives texture and depth to the limited color palette. Court’s buoyant text uses a repeating pattern of internal rhyme and alliteration. That language pattern sometimes leads to winsome wordplay (“three lumbersome, cumbersome southern elephant seals”) but does sometimes fall flat (“ten crimson, vermilion sea stars creeping about on twinkle toes”). Back matter introduces viewers to the animals’ harsh habitat, where the average temperature in winter is –81 degrees Fahrenheit and winds can reach two hundred miles an hour. The three Antarctic poles (ceremonial, geographic, and magnetic) are also introduced, and additional information is given for each of the ten animals counted.
—The Horn Book Guide