Let's Count!

by Laura Driscoll

This counting book uses lift-the-flaps to find the animals or objects to be counted. Any book with flaps seems to be a hit with my toddler. We've borrowed it from the library. It appears this particular book is really popular with other kids, too (or had a destructive reader once) because it has been heavily mended with tape and one flap is missing entirely. My kid always points this out with a sad voice: "bwoken!" Each page shows little people in ethnic dress from different countries. The places featured are Argentina, Madagascar, New Zealand, Iceland, Greece, Japan and Canada. Corresponding things to count are guitars and violins, lemurs (my daughter insists they look like cats!) and chameleons, kiwi fruits and kiwi birds, fish, goats, paper cranes and husky puppies. I like the variety this all offers, although my kid isn't old enough to understand about the different countries. My favorite page is the Japanese one with some spare and beautiful design- pretty blossoms on a branch in a vase, delicate origami cranes hidden under a paper-lined window.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 14 pages, 2012