Book excerpt: Together again, the whimsical duo -- poet Richard Michelson and artist Leonard Baskin show that learning to count and to multiply by ten need never be boring! In dueling poetry, a motley crew of animals argues for the honor of the number each represents. Whether it's a crocodile arguing with an ant or a centipede with a three-toed sloth, each animal is sure that its number is the one to beat! Fiddlesticks! Six? The best? Poppycock! You want TEN TIMES BETTER? Dial a croc.The poems are always clever, sometimes even preposterous. The watercolors are bold in tones conveying the animal's conviction that its number is undoubtedly the best! Interesting natural history information at the back of the book gives young readers more facts to ponder while mathematical problems give them the chance to put into practice what they have just learned. All in all, children will laugh their way along the road to numerical literacy in a counting book like no other.