A boy's teacher asks him, "How many people live with you?" which creates a story, in verse, of his ninety pets. The array of animals that the boy owns is quite astounding! The illustrations are nicely done and I think young children will really like this silly story. It's also great for lessons on rhyming and rhythm. ( )

This is a zany story told in lively verse style with descriptive language and totally wonderful illustrations that kids will just eat up...and the story is a hoot too, literally with 27 owls, 10 cats, 11 dogs, that gerbil that's ALWAYS doing something interesting...and sooooooo much more! I didn't know when I picked this up at our local library that it was a math opportunity disguised as a cute kid's tale...but it rather is. Ninety-Three in My Family isn't just a litany of counting animals either...there is a lot of humor here, like the times the WHOLE family goes on a car trip..."I'll tell you, it gets crowded/When we get in the car./And Mom and Dad get cranky/If we have to drive too far!" I would too if I had flamingos with their heads out the window and a squirrel on my head (which makes the dad sneeze by the way)...and the expression on the faces of the people they are driving past...beautifully done!

I give Ninety-Three in My Family five stars, it's a whirlwind look at one very large family that also affords a visual feast through its illustrations and the added math dimension was quite nice, as this book goes beyond the opportunity to count from one to ten and lets your child try out 10, 11, 27 and many more!! There are PLENTY of opportunities to count all the animals and if you didn't find them all in the story pages, at the end there is a two page spread devoted to a black board representation of the who shebang laid out nicely! ( )