Review: A NUMBER OF ANIMALS by Kate Green

A NUMBER OF ANIMALS is a counting/animal book that is worth a read, but perhaps best found at the library.

The story is your classic lost chick-looking-for-mother.  And in this case, little chick will run into other chicks, mama chicken, cows, goats, horses, geese, ducks, and piggies.

What you see then will be a pair of pages. The first will have the featured number and text (see above). The second page (below) will have the full-page art that lets you and your young audience practice counting.

The good part is the artwork.  I think this woodcut style is really going to appeal to quite a few children.

The downside is that A NUMBER OF ANIMALS is NOT a particularly good read-aloud.  And while some of the phrasing is just wonderful and evocative, the way that the whole of the text hangs together is rather clumsy.

The Good:

"...slow cows sunning in the meadow"

"turkeys ruffling their feathers".

The not-so-good:

Three slow cows sunning in the meadow.

"Have you seen my mother?"

But all they do is moo.

Sort of bland.

So... A NUMBER OF ANIMALS might be a good choice for children who like this style of artwork.  It certainly gives moms (and other adults) a chance to name animals and colors and practice counting from 1 to 10; but it's not the most sublime counting book that you could pick up.

Pam~

A NUMBER OF ANIMALS
story & art by Christopher Wormell
text by Kate Green

3.41 Stars from 17 GoodReaders

Reading Information:
Page Count: 32
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