I Can Have My Picnic in a Patch of Roses

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

“Today I am going on a picnic. Where can I have it? / I can have my
picnic in a spruce bog and share my juice with ONE medieval moose. / I
can have my picnic in the outback and share my stew with TWO khaki
kangaroos. / I can have my picnic in a patch of roses and share my tea
with THREE boisterous bees. / I can have my picnic in the Arctic and
share my oatmeal with FOUR snobby seals. / I can have my picnic in the
rainforest and share my carrots with FIVE perky parrots.”

This first book by author/illustrator Jenny Visscher is first-rate.
Although the format is set up like most rhyming, alliterative counting
books, the volume stands out because of its delightfully quirky sense of
humor (for example, how many counting books run from one to eleven?).
Besides having fun with numbers, Visscher takes the reader on a
geographical, biological, and culinary world tour. One page features six
soufflé-eating anteaters, while another boasts nine coral reef fishes
eating knishes. Visscher’s text is perfectly matched by her equally
offbeat illustrations. Bees in top hats, carrot-eating parrots, and
playful puffins dance in front of the reader in dazzling color. Highly
recommended.