Earthsong

Olive Wadsworth's well-known verse, ""Over in the Meadow,"" has been adapted into a folksong by Rogers; now that song becomes a rollicking read-aloud counting book that glows with rich, jewel-like colors. The story begins in a grandparents' parlor, with"" 'Sing!' said my grandpa. 'Let's sing!' said we,"" and moves to one whale calf, two little pandas, three tigers ("" 'Pounce!' said the mother. 'We pounce!' said the three""), and so on. Each of the animals is endangered, and each is described further in the notes at the end. The poem proceeds through 11 wolves, then 40 crocodiles and 100 snakelets before returning to the grandparents and their grandchildren, and a call to share and to care for the earth. The bouncy rhythms carry the message sweetly; all of the animals have rather human expressions--even the gila monsters; and the family is wrapped in the beautiful tapestry of earth, beast, and bird that the grandmother was working on in the beginning. The music is included on the back of the jacket.