'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Friday, 8 January 2021

Review: Counting Creatures

From the creators of Animalphabet, comes a similar, beautifully designed counting book. Beginning from the exquisite cover, Counting Creatures is interactive, educational and a feast for the eye.

Award-winning illustrator Sharon King-Chai has magnificently translated Julia Donaldson’s text. Together they have created a book of extraordinary beauty that facilitates learning.

Cut-out pages, flaps and fold outs are used to hide and introduce a variety of animal families.

 

 

Creatures of the day and night, loud and quiet ones, all wait to be discovered and counted.

Clusters of gorgeous baby animals are presented with their collective name in rhyming verse, alliteration and assonance, and unique artwork.

Foxes, frolicking, frisking, bushy tales whisking. Very sound-effective, the language and the repetitive sounds demand they be read aloud for full appreciation.

Stunning colours play a major part in making even the shadows of night seem exotic and breathtaking. Leaves appear alive and crispy in their autumn shades. Butterfly wings cover baby caterpillars. Cut-out forests reveal hidden baby poults.

Language and learning become a slideshow of beauty and detail.

There is so much in this book to love. It is a collector’s dream and will fit well with other standout picture books that children, and adults love to call their own.

Title: Counting Creatures
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Sharon King-Chai
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, $29.99
Publication Date: 13 October 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781529040517
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book