As they did in One Hundred Hungry Ants, Pinczes and MacKain apply numerical
division to a practical problem-and explain it in an entertaining, visually
emphatic way. Keeping to the insect theme, Pinczes introduces the ``25th Army
Corps,'' a regiment of 25 beetles on parade. Their blue bug queen ``likes
things tidy,'' and when the bugs march two by two, she notices that one bug
brings up the rear. The unfortunate Joe has to stand aside rather than be a
``remainder''; on the days that follow, Joe tries dividing the squadron into
symmetrical rows of three, then four and, finally, five, when he is at last
accommodated. Rather than endorse conformity, this rhyming tale focuses on
Joe's search for a solution. And lest squadron-like precision trouble readers,
each big-eyed ``bug-soldier'' has a unique patterned shell. MacKain even
ensures that the same beetle characters-one with a pointy nose, two wearing
glasses, etc.-appear in every spread, allowing readers to play spot-the-bug.
Rendered in dusty blues and pasture-green with warm yellow, red and pink
accents, her linocut-style art vibrates with energy. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
