BAD ALPHABET and counting books are easy to come by these days. Because the market for children’s books continues to grow despite the recession, some publishers rush to print books of dubious quality.

• How Many Baby Pandas? by Sandra Markle (Walker, $15.99, ages 4 to 8) -- Youngsters learn basic counting skills as they view photographs of the eight super-cute panda pairs born in 2005 at China's ...

• Country Road ABC: An Illustrated Journey Through America's Farmland by Arthur Geisert (Houghton Mifflin, $17, ages 4 to 8): A realistic look at farm life is complemented by a sophisticated ...