Product Description

Ten sly piranhas are swimming in a river, but one at a time they disappear, until there is only one left. Now that this proud overeater is the only surviving piranha, he is confident that he can eat anybody. But while he may be the cleverest fish in the river, he is no match for the giant crocodile lurking on the bank. Children will love learning to count backward in this crafty tale about one very hungry piranha.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #189069 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780142400746
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Wise's provocative subtitle translates to a sort of "Ten in a Bed" of the deep, wherein the protagonists devour one another until the last succumbs to a hungry croc. The concept is clever enough, on the face of it (although the literal-minded may object to the biologically inaccurate representation of this species of fish, which do not in fact eat their own), but Wise's verse is neither sprightly nor inventive enough to animate the entire countdown. Occasionally awkward in rhyme and meter, the verse is generally repetitious. Chess's almost fluorescently colored pictures contain some priceless examples of her trademark wicked wit (the glassy-eyed stare of a piranha who is growing sleepy in the sunlight, to fatal consequence, is particularly hilarious). In a sort of split-screen effect, they offer vistas of various tropical land animals above strips that portray the diminishing schools underwater. But even though the illustrations are fetching individually, they fall short of Chess's strongest work, chiefly because the underwater scenes--the focus of the story's action--provide little opportunity for visual variety. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-A story in rhyme of ten bright pink piranhas that, one by one, "with a gulp and a gurgle" outwit and devour one another until a crocodile comes along and "...then there were none." The lilting cadence of the anticipatory story makes it fun to read and hear. The right-hand pages of watercolor illustrations complement the lines of text on their facing pages. Their minute detailing of pen and ink outlining and crosshatching, depict the twisting flora and colorful fauna of the piranhas' jungle environment. Bright but not garish, they show both the shoreline inhabitants and the river teeming with turtles, piranhas-and crocs! Frogs, snakes, toucans, and anteaters, too, abound. White spaces frame each picture, drawing attention to the tumbling, intertwining scene. A reverse counting book for voracious readers.
Mary Lou Budd, Milford South Elementary School, OH
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
The long subtitle--``A Counting Story in Reverse (A Tale of Wickedness--and Worse!)''--explains it all: Ten toothy fuchsia piranhas (``Each a slippery schemer, with a dozen dirty tricks'') ogle and menace and, one by one, devour each other; the last is snapped up by a crocodile. The violence here is considerable, but tastefully implicit; the beady-eyed Amazonians in Chess's brightly tropical river scenes (intriguingly displayed in over/under cross sections) simply disappear, while the author also leaves their gruesome demises to the imagination. Wise's rhymed verse has a catchy rhythmical beat that propels it as persistently as the predatory fishes' hunger. Readers of a certain sort will relish this mightily. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Preschoolers LOVE IT
I've taught preschoolers for 11 years and this book beginning to end captivates and it is FUN to read. The original reviewer must not know anything about what is child centered and this book can be used in several areas of curriculum. For math there is the obvious counting backward from 10, one to one correspondence thru 10. For literacy there is the/p/ sound for piranha, phonemic awareness of rhyming words and chanting in a rhythm. With a couple of readings your kids will anticipate the rhyme word and fill it in for you. There is alliteration for beginning sound phonemic word segmenting and then if you write out the alliterations on a sentence strip you have an awesome extension activity for print awareness, awareness of letters in print, ask the children "what is the 1st sound in the words gulp and gurgle?" they answer then have them find the letters in the sentence and circle them. Plus singing it is very fun so you get playing with language. buy it you won't regret it.

Frolicsome and Frisky
You will want to read this book to your youngster. The rhyme and the rhythm of it will entice you both. Very enjoyable to read aloud. "Frolicsome and frisky and yet greatly to be feared" sounds even more fun in a Scottish accent, perhaps a la John Cleese. The pictures are colorful. This is the kind of thing you want to memorize so that you can entertain a little one someday when you are caught in a big traffic jam on the highway.

Ten Sly Piranhas: A Counting Story in Reverse
A clever little tail in rhyme about a group of devious fish and a surprise that awaits the most clever. I often read this tale to my first born and have returned to read it to my youngest. The first book is now worn and torn.