Fish Eyes

A Book You Can Count On 
by Lois Ehlert 

This is a fun counting book. It's full of fish with all kinds of different shapes, patterns and vivid colors on a dark blue background, which really makes them pop. They're drawn with basic shapes and bold markings, but I recognize a lot of the species. The eyes are cut-out holes which always intrigues my toddler, she likes to poke her finger into the holes. She's even starting to count along with me on the pages. The first few pages have rhyming text leading a child along on an imaginary swim through the ocean: If I could put on a suit of scales / add some fins and one of these tails / I'd close my eyes and then I'd wish / that I'd turn into a beautiful fish... then counts one through ten all the fish you encounter. The very last page is even bolder, with fish eyes glowing off the dark page, bodies as obscured silhouettes. My kid really likes it.

 Rating: 4/5 ........ 32 pages, 1990