"Count the Possums: A Talk-Along Story" by Dick Punnett, illustrated by Tom Dunnington, published by The Child's World, Elgin, Illinois, distributed by Children's Press, Chicago, 1982. First Edition.

Hard boards, strong glossy buckram cloth [some soiling and residue of removed labels]; 7.3/4" x 10"; 32 pages, some wear and soiling, library and 'discard' stamps, tight reinforced binding, good condition.

A child (or children) being read to must help Mama Possum count her babies as she finds them - one by one - in the aftermath of a hurricane. Concept book: counting and adding.

For over 35 years Dick Punnett has delighted children of preschool to 7 years of age with books that have made learning fun. His series, TALK-ALONG, was first published in 1982 and was the first interactive books introduced into the schools. They were his best sellers because they taught basic concepts in a very original and clever way, and all in rhyme.

Thomas Walter Dunnington, aka Tom Dunnington [1928-2013], American artist and illustrator, was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He recalls camping and canoe trips with his family in the North woods at a very early age.

The artist received his art training at the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis and the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He has taught illustration at Layton School of Art in Milwaukee and drawing at Chicago's Columbia College.

Tom Dunnington's wildlife paintings have always reflected his astute perception of nature and his religious attention to detail. In his endangered species series his work reveals an additional quality - one that both quickens the spirit and haunts it.

"Manv of the impressions I saw and felt twenty and thirty years ago are in my paintings today. Each new work Is a culmination of everything that has gone before it. I can go into the forest to sketch and the forest is mine. I don't have to take it home or put a fence around it for it to be mine. I wish more people felt that way about wildlife. You don't have to shoot it, or hang it on your wall or put it in a zoo. It exists. It is there living as I am living. Somehow just knowing that is important. When any life is threatened with extinction, , too, am threatened."

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) --------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-4 weeks) -- $28.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-5 weeks) --- $42.50