Discover nature by the numbers in this gorgeous, innovative counting book.
The natural world is full of sets of numbers: from birds’ wings in twos and clover leaves in threes to deer hooves in fours and octopus arms in eights. This book uses playful rhyming text to explore these numerical sets in vibrant detail, ending with the stars in the sky—a number set too big to count!
Nancy Raines Day is known for her warm and witty rhyming and concept books, most recently Baby’s Firsts, Hoorade Day! and Pirate Jack Gets Dressed. Her colorful past includes growing up on the East Coast, attending college in the Midwest, and raising a family on the West Coast. Now she lives with her husband and three cats in Georgia’s Golden Isles.
Nancy is the author of a dozen picture books. Among her favorite subjects are nature and animals, math and music. She is powered by white chocolate mochas, her favorite refreshment as she works.
Before he got into kids’ books, Kurt had a bunch of other jobs: picking fruit, mixing concrete, delivering oxygen, driving fork lifts, installing parking meters, mixing brine for maraschino cherries, and operating mechanical ventilators in a hospital, among other things. But nothing can compare with writing and illustrating.
Were there any pivotal changes that your story/illustrations underwent throughout the writing/editing process?
When I first wrote this, there were nine planets–then they took Pluto away! It took me two more years to find the nine-spined stickleback fish.
By Nancy Raines Day (author)
What part of creating What in the World? did you most enjoy?
Seeing what Kurt Cyrus did with my text! The way he brought all these different elements together with a sense of flow and tender beauty blew me away.
By Nancy Raines Day (author)