Counting in the Forest

November 1, 2012

PreS-K-These bright books encourage readers to count to 20. Each page represents one number and maintains the same word pattern (e.g., "Can you count seven basketballs, scattered around this court?" and "Can you count six tiny shrimp, underneath this rock?"). The pages all have a number line at the top, with an arrow pointing to the featured number. Photos of items, plants, and creatures are imposed on top of background drawings. Unfortunately, the illustrations suffer from lack of variety; on many of the pages the same photos are used repeatedly, usually in different sizes or facing different directions. Children will enjoy counting the objects with an adult, but those reading alone may lose interest quickly due to the repetition.

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.