10 WISHES DESCRIPTION In "Ten Wishes," a day-dreaming narrator imagines groups of friendly animals gathered together in highly comical situations. The story is told in whimsical rhythm and rhyme, along with vibrant, full-color illustrations. Inside the pages, ten stories of animal antics are sure to engage early learners and readers. Smiles and playful good times abound in this book's lively, literary presentation and its creative reading and number experiences. The book begins with a question: What would you do if you had ten wishes? This sets up the book's content and style, as well as building anticipation for things to come. The first two-page story unit features a delightful verse, a large colorful numeral one and an opposite facing page illustration of a goat sailing its boat in an imaginative land. This verbal and visual style continues throughout the book. Each story and picture spread introduces the listener/reader to an ever larger number on one side and a corresponding group of animals and their delightful activities on the other. Unexpected verbal fun plus small details in the pictures help provide a compelling sense of discovery for the listener/reader.. The narrator's wishes continue the theme with two brightly colored giraffes retrieving a kite that was stuck in the trees and reaching high up-stairs windows to clean them. Three pigs populate the next story unit. They live up to their stereotype and splash and play in the mud as pigs are supposed to do. The narrator joins them and all have great laughs till it's time go inside and take a bath. Four bright green crocodiles join the narrator next and are housed in the family bathtub in this creative world of animals and fun. The narrator has this to say about the crocodiles: "They'd stay in the bathtub, in there every minute That the tub's not in use, when the pigs are not in it." The remaining animals in this creative story include cows, snakes, bears, whales and dolphins. All feature delightful verse stories and engaging illustrations. The ending tenth story unit content is not revealed here to preserve its punch line. After the book ends, several pages provide an easy-to-use, suggested learning activity. It involves discussion and writing of wishes, plus a review of numbers from one to ten that are spelled out and in numerals on a colorful two-page spread. The "Ten Wishes" author and illustrator obviously know their target four to six-year-old audience, and what makes them join in and read or listen with a smile..