The simple old nursery rhyme is given vibrant life in this incandescent concept book. Hines, a gifted quilt artist, illustrates with her fabric art. Each number gets a full page: Numeral, background and frame appear in different fabrics, and embroidery, fancy stitching, rickrack and buttons (one for each number, adding a counting element) decorate. Some of the buttons are star- or heart- or flower-shaped; many of the fabrics are also patterned with flowers, stripes and geometrics in splendid saturated colors that pop off the paper. A small girl in star-covered overalls (and red shoes with buckles, of course) performs the actions indicated by the rhyme. This version ends with "My big fat hen!"--readers see the hen and child playing tug-o-war with a woolen thread. The last spread shows all the numbers one to ten, outlines of children's hands and that array of buttons, one atop each digit allowing readers to count one, then two, then three, all the way up to ten. Joyous and great fun. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Illustrating the nursery rhyme 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe, Hines uses fabric with an artist's eye, creating color and pizzazz through well-chosen fabrics, fancy stitching, and three-dimensional elements such as buttons and yarn. In half of the paired pictures, a little girl buckles her shoe, picks up sticks, and so on, while alternating sets of images boldly represent numerals, such as a large, blue 8 appliquéd to a yellow background, with eight buttons in different sizes and colors sewn on around the number. After a series of single-pages resembling quilt squares, the rhyme ends with two expansive double-page spreads, one illustrating the words My big fat hen and the other, all the numbers from one to ten. The jaunty endpapers carry photos showing hundreds of brightly colored buttons. Bold, simple layouts, the juxtaposition of printed fabrics, and the decorative use of rickrack and stitching make the playful art visually pleasing, but even better is Hines' fine-tuned understanding of how young children might use the book as they learn to count. Simple and striking.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2008 Booklist

Hines illustrates the familiar rhyme with beautiful quilt squares featuring a spirited little girl picking up sticks and dancing with her hen. As with Winter Lights: A Season in Poems and Quilts, Hines uses applique (here, fabric, thread, and buttons) to create each illustration. The eye-catching art is easy for a toddler to interpret, making this counting book attractive and accessible. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

PreS-The popular verse, included in numerous collections of nursery rhymes, gets the star treatment in this delightful picture book. Illustrated entirely with quilt patches festooned with buttons, the ditty bounces along in bursts of color. The title page introduces the first patch-a little girl in star-covered overalls against a sunny yellow swatch of material, framed by a black border edged in rickrack and sewn upon a solid-color fabric. Then, each number is sewn on a separate quilt square, following the pattern set on the first page. The fabric designs vary, with each page more dazzling than the previous ones. Children will enjoy counting the buttons sewn beside the numbers. The text following each pair of numerals is set against its own patch, and opposite that is a quilted picture of the girl acting out the verse. The last spread contains several pairs of hands adorned with buttons that match their corresponding numbers, 1 through 10. Youngsters who are just learning to count will enjoy poring over the cheerful pictures.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.