View source for Counting Things by Anna Kovecses

{{infobox2
|title= Counting Things
|author= Anna Kovecses
|reviewer= Linda Lawlor
|genre=For Sharing
|summary= Plenty of fun with flaps, and nice clear pictures for little fingers to point to.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=16
|publisher=Wide Eyed Editions
|date=August 2017
|isbn=9781786030368
|website=
|video=
|aznuk=1786030365
|aznus=1786030365
|cover=1786030365
}}
 
Little Mouse is learning lots of new things in this series of books by the Hungarian illustrator Anna Kövecses, and here we see the delightful little rodent counting its way through the jungle, the farmyard, the countryside and the town. On every page the same question is asked, beginning with 'How many . . . ?', and the toddler, with the help of an adult or older sibling, will soon learn to touch the named items on the page and under the flap.
 
Each page gives the child a sense of achievement as little fingers point to the stars or fish or cars, and to make this easier items are well spaced out on spreads which, apart from, curiously, the second one, are beautifully uncluttered.  The palette is simple and the colours muted, using minimalist shapes to convey a sense of calm and simplicity for the bedtime book ritual, and the designs themselves are charmingly naïve, which is sure to appeal as much (if not more) to parents as to children.
 
Good picture books do not reveal all their secrets and challenges on the first reading. Here, the excitement of learning to count is matched by the pleasure of peeking under the flaps. At subsequent readings the child will have the fun of finding Little Mouse on each page and discuss what it's doing, be it driving, camping or sailing a boat. Mouse is, of course, suitably little, so this provides an excellent opportunity for closer inspection of each double-page spread. The book is fairly small at just over seven inches square, which means it can easily be picked up by tiny hands, and it is impressively robust: the pages are easy to turn and the flaps are large and solidly built. They will stand a good many sessions of pulling, lifting and peeking.
 
Anna Kovecses's books are well-liked at Bookbag: you and your small bookworm might like to try [[One Thousand Things by Anna Kovecses|One Thousand Things]] or the intriguing [[Opposite Things by Anna Kovecses|Opposite Things]] which combines fun with some slightly more challenging concepts. And of course, there's always the wonderful [[One Happy Tiger by Catherine Rayner]] – a classic in the making!
 
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