Medina, Juana. 1 Big Salad. illus. by Juana Medina. 32p. Viking. Jun. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781101999745. 

PreS-Gr 1 –Starting with one avocado deer and working up to 10 clementine kittens, the anthropomorphic fruits and veggies in this counting concept book come together to create one big and appealing salad. A recipe for a healthy and simple dressing is included on the last page, along with some playful lemon pigs, a porcupine-ish dish of olive oil, and a flying saltshaker bird. This whimsical book features a salad that takes kids beyond mere lettuce to encounter more sophisticated garden delicacies, like maroon radicchio lions, vibrantly green romaine dogs, and juicy orange clementine kittens. The illustrations contain a great variety of fruit and veggie shapes and colors. For instance, there are purple carrots, oblong radishes, and tomatoes in shades of yellow and green as well as red. Created digitally, in combination with fresh fruits and veggies from the University of the District of Columbia’s Farmers Market, the images use white space and color to great effect. The veggies and fruits, augmented with arms, legs, ears, antlers, and wings created with confident and bold, swooping black lines, stand out against the crisp white background. Minimal text is printed in a large font that pops off the page. Numbers are printed as numerals and written out (1 and one). VERDICT Great for a storytime or one-on-one sharing, this vivacious book will inspire youngsters to explore the fruits and veggies in their own kitchens.–Amy Seto Forrester, Denver Public Library